Naru Uzumaki, a Kunoichi's tail
by Babyuknowme13
Summary: Being taken as an apprentice is a good thing. Even if it's to a demonic overlord with 9 tails. What's a blonde to do in a world of espionage, love, betrayol and adventure? Kick major ass, of course! Read well reader,, because this fic is hot! FemnaruxKiba
1. Chapter 1

LC; dudes you got to check this out!  
Naruto; What is it now LC?  
LC; it's my master piece! My magnum opus!  
Naruto; I give up, what is it?  
LC; ...  
Naruto; Um, LC?  
LC; ...  
Naruto LC!  
LC; OMFG, Naruto gave up! I'm too young to die!  
Naruto; "Fine, I won't ever give up, believe it!  
LC; All is right with the universe! YAY! Free cookies for all!  
Naruto; What was this master piece again?  
LC; Oh, here read this *Naruto looks over shoulder and begins reading the fanfic*  
Naruto; Why am I a girl?  
LC; because, you are a cute girl. This would never have happened if you didn't invent the sexy jutsu.

Chappie 1, The mask

'Maybe the universe did hate me.' It is a sad, sad day when a three year old thinks the universe hates her.  
(Yes, I wrote her, live with it!) Why did they chase her? She hadn't done anything!

"Get back here, demon brat!" Her breath was short, she needed a place to hide from the angry mob.  
Like a shining ray of hope, she glimpsed a light pole, and with the strength and agility far surpassing a normal three year olds', she scrambled up the pole and out of arm's reach.

"Get down here, Demon slut!" They were really starting to get creative with these nicknames, weren't they?  
She pleaded again, telling them she had only been walking home. Sadly, they did not hear her, to engrossed as they were with plans on how to get her down to kill her.

"We finish the fourth's work today, boys!" This man was a ninja, his headband revealed as much. This picture was only enforced when he held up a kunai. "The demon dies today!"  
Perhaps the universe had felt remorse, because the kunai did not fly true. It hit her in the chest, but too low to kill.  
She cried with pain and lost her grip, falling in to the sea of cheering villagers.

**"I'm so sorry, kit!"** Suddenly she was in her sensei's cage, held safely in his arms.** "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault."**

"Don't be sad Kyu!" She scolded kindly. "I don't blame you."  
He held her all the more tighter and began healing her injuries. **"That fact alone makes me yearn for their deaths. You are too kind and gentle to be a killer, if only those fools would open their eyes!"**

Now, it's morning again, and she wakes up in a dark and cold alley way. Her eyes shone in new determination to meet the new day.

"I'll be the best, and I'll use the element of surprise."  
From that day forth, the serious but kind three year old became a loud and stupid blonde kunoichi to be.  
Kyu would train her in all his thousands of years had taught him, and she would play the stupid girl.  
The universe could not be more cruel.

"Naru Uzumaki, wake up!" Truly Iruka-sensei's big head jutsu was to be feared. Which made everyone wonder why he did not scold his enemies to death. The afore mentioned Naru opened her eyes, though she did not appear to have just woken up.

"Eh, sensei!" She whined, quickly covering her face with her mask. "I was having a good dream!"

"Naru, tommorrow is the genin exams!" Big head jutsu alert! "You shouldn't be sleeping but studying! That is if you want to pass!"  
A tremor went through her body, causing her sensei to regret his words. To everyone in the class, she was the dead last and always would be. To Kyu and herself, she was nearer to chunin than genin. Not that they knew.

"Sorry, sensei!" She laughed it off, scratching her head at the same time. "I was dreaming of graduating and becoming hokage!" He sighed and went back to his incredibly boring lecture. In truth, the only one immune to his droning voice appeared to be Hinata, as she was the only one awake.

The school day ended, the children packed up, and were preparing to leave. Naru picked up her heavy bag and ran down the stairs, only suceding in barreling a certain Uchiha over and landing in a very compromising position.  
Naru's lips crashed over the stoic boy's, both staring at the other in shock fit for, something else.  
Naru recovered first and pushed away from the boy, wiping her mouth off dramatically.

"EW! Pervy-Uchiha!" Her words punctuated with a red mark on poor Sasuke's face, looking suspiciously like a hand.  
With killing intent strong enough to scare Orochimaru snakeless, the Sasuke fan club stood up to face the theft of their love's first kiss.

"Naru!" A certain pink-haired banshee growled evily.  
Now, Naru had dealt with killing intent before, but even she had to cower before this frightening spectacle.

"How dare you steal Sasuke-kun's first kiss!" She demanded, rolling up her sleeve, promising pain in the near future.

"What the Hell makes you think I wanted Sasuke of all people, to be my first kiss?" Naru demanded back, adding a healthy helping of KI herself.

"I'd sooner kiss Akamaru! At least he's got better breath!" Having proven her point, Naru walked calmly past the fuming love sick girls and nearly burst into tears once out of sight.

"Why him?" She moaned aloud. "The universe does hate me! Why did it have to be a boy with a stick so far up his ass it messed with his brain?"

**"Now, now, Kit."** Kyu tried to console her. **"Hey think of it this way, did you see his face when you slapped him?"**  
Thinking back, she realised it was the first emotion she'd seen on his face since the massacre. Not only that, but it had been priceless! Oh what a time to forget her camra!

Instead of going straight home,(mainly because she knew several fangirls were following her, probably to kill her in her sleep) she went to the training grounds and began working on some katas. Like ten-ten, she too had a love for all things pointy.

**"Spread your feet farther apart, kit."** Kyu instructed. Doing so, she charged the poor tree stump thing. Pooring chakra into the blade at the last moment, the tree lost a good foot of hieght.

**"Good, now that you can add your affiliation type to the blade, you can work on doing the same thing with your rasengan."** Kyu praised happily, he enjoyed having his own apprentice.  
She placed the sword in it's sheath, then the whole thing into her small sealing scroll. After hiding it within her bulky,(And yes, neon orange)jacket(Picture Hinata's jacket, but orange, with red furry stuff for the lining.), she created the rasengan in her right hand.  
Concentrating as strongly as she was, she did not notice the extremely lazy boy watching from behind a tree. Shikamaru was the only one who knew about the mask, but as of yet, hadn't told her he knew.

"So troublesome." He muttered, watching Naru's now jacketless form being bathed in sweat. Below the jacket, she wore a black belly button tank top that revealed her well toned muscles. Not to mention a budding bust which was normally hidden behind the jacket.  
Not until the Sun had set and Shikamaru had fallen asleep under the tree, did Naru finally collapse. The resulting thud woke Shikamaru, only to see Naru laying in the dust.

"Again?" He asked in disbelief. It happened everyday, she trained, collapsed, and then he would carry her home.  
Dreading the amount of effort he was about to expend, he walked over to the pig-tailed blonde.

"Wonder when you'll drop the act." He muttered for what must have been the tenth time in a month.  
The next day, Naru found herself in bed, again.

"Damn, who keeps bringing me back?" She pondered aloud.

**"Kit, check the clock."** Doing as her sensei instructed, she gasped at the blinking red letters.

"Holy crap, it's already nine!" Knowing the situation was desperate, she used her father's favorite jutsu to shower, dress, and eat breakfast, then run to school. Before walking into the Hell hole that is disguised as a school, she muttered a prayer.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, father, for inventing that jutsu."

She burst into the room, panting for breath and hair still loose around her shoulders.

"Naru, your even later than usual." Iruka observed, slightly concerned for his adoptive daughter.

"S-sorry, Iruka-sensei." She panted tiredly, grin glued to face. "Ran into a little trouble this morning."  
He wanted to ask what had happened, fearing from her lopsided appearance she had been attacked again, but he knew he could not show favoritism.  
Naru bounced to the only availiable seat, next to the pervy-Uchiha.

"Hn, loser, why were you really late?" She was shocked he was deigning to speak to her, even more so it was more than the usual loser bit.

"First off, I think that is the most you've ever said to me at one time." She said suspiciously. "Second, I was late because I got held up. And third, why are you speaking to me?"

"Because loser, you never did apologise for yesterday." Yet again he astounded her with the number of words, and the fact he actually replied.

"Hell will freeze over before I apologise to a stick in the ass like you, pervy-Uchiha." She said with a smirk.  
Meanwhile, Sasuke was contemplating the possibility of a girl who did not like him and did not want to have little Uchihas.  
'Maybe it is possible.' He thought as Iruka explain the exam for the sixth time and counting. 'She's never shown the least interest, pity, she's pretty cute.' His eyes widened at what he had allowed to run through his mind. He had never thought the word cute before, let alone applying it to the blonde haired loser uncomfortingly close to him. Crap, was he actually blushing? No! Uchihas did not blush! (Funny how he never caught the past tense did, cause they do now!;)

Naru meanwhile, was oblivious to all around her, as she was too busy trying to defeat the fox at shogi.

**"Face it Kit, a thousand years is more than enough time to master shogi!" **Mentally growling her frustration, she attempted to get past the Kyubi no Kitsune's impentetrable defenses.  
So engrossed was she, that Iruka had to use the big head jutsu to get her attention, since even Sasuke's poking could not arose her.  
She blinked and sat straight again.

"Eh? What is it Iruka-sensei?" She asked innocently.  
After a brief round of anime face falls,(You know when they fall face first on the floor? yeah that) she walked to the front of the class for her turn at the test.  
Substitution was no problem, having learned that at four, Transform was equally easy, but as for clones. Knowing she would have to be careful, she made the handsigns at fantastic speeds for the shadow clone jutsu.  
When the smoke cleared, three Naru's stood grinning ear to ear in front of him. Iruka could no longer hold back the grin from his scarred face.

"Congratulations Naru, you are now a kunoichi of the Leaf." For once not bothering to pretend, Naru jumped into the air screaming her victory.  
So now everyone within a fifty mile radius knew that Naru Uzumaki was on her way to becoming hokage.

Taking the headband, she decided to tie it around her forehead, like many good ninja. She sat back down and in her good humor, took out a notepad and began sketching everyone in the room, happy smiling faces(and in Sasuke's case, wierd smirk) and all! She was really good at drawing, which made seals easier.

Iruka gave his speech about being a Leaf ninja and then took out the team listy thingy.  
(Personally, I hate all those jacked up teams everyone keeps coming up with, so live with it)

"Team seven; Naru Uzumaki," Her ears pricked forward and she silently prayed.

"Sakura Haruno," Dear Kami, if she got the twin banshees, she would quit then and there! She'd hand her headband back in that second! She would-"And Sasuke Uchiha."

Well, it wasn't Ino, but it sure made her consider giving back her headband anyway.

"Please move to sit next to your teammates now, so you can get to know eachother before your senseis get here!" Iruka ordered cheerfully, trying to hide his fear of a certain blonde Kunoichi's KI that was much higher than normal.

"And before anyone asks, no one short of the hokage could change the teams now!" He added, desperatly trying to shift the ire of the blonde from his hastily retreating form.

Sakura was going to forcibly pull Naru out of that seat, when she felt the highly concentrated KI. Naru sighed sadly and got up, letting a happy little girl sit by her crush and almost deafen him. Sasuke, at that moment, was now thinking up ways he could kill the Uzumaki girl that were very creative for a twelve year old boy.  
Naru could almost hear his though process. 'She purposely moved to let the she-devil sit next to me, therfore she must be Itachi's accomplice and as such I must kill her very painfully.'  
Taking out her camera from under her Jacket, she turned to Sakura.

"Hey Sakura-chan, Scoot closer, I'll take your picture!" She said happily.  
Sakura jumped at the chance to move ahead of Ino on the 'I love Sasuke this much' chart. Ino had never gotten a picture with sasuke, while she now did.

Oh the look of horror on Sasuke's face at the double flash of the camera. Naru kept one picture, giving the other to the crazy and most likely rabid fan girl.  
Ino could not take this, and so she turned to Naru, holding up ten ryo.

"Take my picture with Sasuke-kun too!" She ordered.  
Seeing this as a way to make lots of money in a little amount of time, Naru spent the next half hour getting paid to give fan girls pictures of them next to Sasuke.  
Sasuke just sat there, trying to fix his eyesight and un aware of the many different girls occupying the seat next to him as he grew to have an unrational fear of cameras.  
Happily counting her hard earned money in her pretty pink froggy wallet named Gamma-chan, Naru was trying to figure out how many bowls of ramen this would pay for.

"Yes, thirty bowls of ramen!" She finished, waving two fists full of money.  
Meanwhile her teammates were wondering what she would do with thirty bowls of ramen, not knowing they were dealing with the ramen eating champion of the world._ Yet._

Two hours passed, and Naru's good mood completly vanished.

"Damn it!" She cursed loudly. "What the Hell is taking him so long?" Sakura completly agreed with Naru, though she was less vocal about it.

"Loser, be quiet." However, seeing as her love wanted quiet, she would do him and the Universe in general a favor.

"Shut up Naru!" With a (familiar) punch aimed at Naru's head, she automatically ducked and pulling a kunai, in one swift motion had Sakura pinned to the floor and wondering what the Hell had just happened.

"Oh, so sorry, Sakura-chan!" Naru cried, moving to let the banshee up. "I guess my reflexes just kicked in." She chuckled awkwardly.  
Immediatly forgetting the near death of one teammate,(By her hand) she glanced again at the clock.

"Oh, that is it!" She yelled defiantly. She emptied her pockets, and found some ninja wire, several kunai and shuriken, a special wire that was almost transparent, and a sealing scroll.  
Both the emo-boy and the pink-haired banshee shuddered when they saw the highly sadistic grin, one they knew instantly meant trouble for the object of her thoughts.  
Using a small amount of chakra, she retrieved a bucket filled with sticky pink sparkles. Kami help the next unfortunate fool to open that door.  
After setting everything up, she laid her head down on the desk to wait.  
And wait.  
And wait.  
Still waiting.  
Oh, look a fly landed on Sasuke's duck butt hair cut.  
She was still waiting.  
And just when she was thinking of adding some orange paint to her trap, the knob began to turn.

Kakashi's POV

Upon opening the door, I noticed a wire and dodged several kunai. Having had to step a little to the side to do so, a second wire snapped, and I ducked into the room to avoid those.  
Impressed though I was at the double ended double trap, nothing short of a miracle could have prepared me for this.  
Just as I caught a glimpse of a trio of surprisingly different kids, I was bombarded with some kind of sticky residue.  
My eyes were then blinded by three flashes, no a fourth one too.

I coughed and rubbed my eye, thinking about taking out the sharingan to check for a fourth trap.  
That is when I saw my worst nightmare. She looked like a female clone of Minato! But with whiskers, and an evil grin that could send shivers down my spine. Minato's looks, plus Kushina's personality, equals a very scared Kakashi.  
That was before I saw the three photos in her hand.

"Another one for the scrap book!" She said happily, before handing the two copies to her accomplices/teammates.

"Well, my first impression of you guys is," I paused dramatically. "I hate you all."

"Look at yourself before saying you hate us." The clone advised. Following her advice, I saw, to my horror, that I was not only pink, but I was sparkly!  
Seemingly from out of nowhere, the girl pulled out a mirror. Looking into it, I saw my hair was now drooping down enough to see it was actually pretty long, and currently, pink and sparkly.

"Ok, let me rethink that last statement." I said angrily, focusing on Minata, as I had dubbed her secretly. "I despise, no_ loath_, you!"  
She had the audicity to curtsey!

"I aim to please!" Oh Obito, even you were never this bad! And I haven't even known her for a minute!

Normal POV

Desperatly wishing this was a genjutsu, Kakashi told them to meet him on the roof in ten minutes. They got there with plenty of time to spare, and thus began to laugh at their newly most prized possesions.

"Oh, oh...Kami!" Naru panted, holding her sides. "Oh Kami, it hurts! Mercy! It hurts!" Sakura was pretty much the same, hell, she couldn't tell if her favorite was of her and Sasuke, or of her new sensei!  
Even Sasuke looked ready to burst, as he was trying not to smile to much though, it was hard to tell.

"Oh dear Kami, this is even better than the monuments I did last week!" Naru had by now, summoned her scrap book from a sealing scroll and was adding the pictures (remember, there was four flashes, therefore, four pictures, she gave two away.) to the page next to the monuments.  
One picture she would keep in here, the other on her person at all times.

Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and admired what had been referred to as, no less than a pranking miracle. Naru had singlehandedly painted the hokage monuments without anyone noticing until Mizuki-sensei had stolen the forbidden scroll and one of the ANBU happened to glance that way.

"By the way, how did you do that?" He said, scaring the blonde girl out of her pig tails.  
She had done it using Hirashin, hence the reason no one had seen her, however she could not tell him that.

"A true pranking Queen never reveals her secrets!" She announced to the world.(Cues anime sweat drop, even though what she had just said was true, Naru is the pranking Queen) The poor cyclopse under the guise of Kakashi sighed and asked each one to introduce themselves.

We all know Sakura makes Kakashi go first so I will not write the painful question.

"I am Kakashi Hatake, I have likes and dislikes, I have many hobbies, as for dreams of the future, never really thought about it."  
While the pink and black haird duo were grumbling about only learning his name, Naru knew he had given up much more.  
To prove as much, she said so.

"You like sweets, you dilike spicy foods, your hobby is reading porn, and you dwell on the past, a lot." She said calmly.

"How did you know that?" Kakashi gasped, wondering how Minata could possibly know that.  
"I had some free time, so I looked in several jounin's files, in case one ended up my sensei!" She said innocently.

"Those files were in ANBU HQ, how did you get those?" He asked suspiciously.

"Your talking to the girl who can and periodically does, avoid every ANBU there is for fun." She deadpanned. "It's child play for me to sneak in there. Other than that, Ibiki owes me a few favors, he got me in."  
Somehow, he did not want to know why a twelve year old girl knew Ibiki, head of torture and interrogation. Or why said head of T and I owed her a favor.

"Okay, well, pinkie, why don't you introduce yourself first." He said, pointing to a fuming Haruno.

"I'm Sakura Haruno, I like... I mean the person I like is..." Cue very scared Sasuke. "I Hate Ino, moderatly dislike Naru, and hate jerks who make fun of people for appearances! My hobbies are shopping, and my dream is to..." Cue scared shitless Sasuke.

"Alright, now you, Uchiha." Meanwhile, he was thinking, oh great, she's a mini Rin.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I don't particualarly like many things, and dislike many things. My goal is to restart my clan, and to kill a certain, someone."  
Kakashi's thoughts; Great, an Avenger, definetly a mini me.  
Sakura's thoughts; Sasuke-kun's so cool!  
Naru's thoughts; I hope he's talking about Itachi and not me.

"Blondie, your turn." Kakashi said, trying to defuse the tension.

"Right, I'm Naru Uzumaki!" She said, thumb jabbing toward herself. "I like ramen, dislike stuck up pricks, and of course, perverts! My dream, is to be the greatest Hokage!"  
Kakashi was faced with a blonde, female, Obito, Kami help him.

"Well, your all clearly individuals." He said dryly. "Meet at training ground seven at five tommorrow. And don't eat breakfast, it'll just come back up."  
Sasuke obviously did not react outwardly to this, Sakura said a very loud what, and Naru...

"There is no fricking way you will ever get me out at five in the morning without breakfast!" (Personally, I agree wholeheartedly, then again I'm the one writing this)


	2. chapter 2

LC; Yay, chappie two from me to u!  
Naruto; I'm sadistic, but a genius! I like this story!  
Sasuke; what is with all these Sasunaru pairings?  
LC; do not comit blapshemy of my favorit pairing! Be happy I made naruto a girl, Sas-gay!  
Sasuke;*Stuttering worse than Hinata* What?  
LC; Be quiet or I will refer to the curse mark as the hickey of doom in this story! Forever!  
Sasuke; Fine, I'll be quiet.  
LC; good, but Orochimaru's still a pedophile.  
Sasuke; Your cruel.  
LC; that's what I'm here for!

Chappie 2, Teamwork, ramen, and empty wallets.

**"Kit, get up."** Kyu was currently sitting in his cage, trying to make his host get up and face the day.

"No." Moaned said Host. "I'm not going at five in the morning, I'll be there at eight, and he can live with it!"  
Not thinking this a bad idea per say, Kyu decided to plan out the new birthday gift he was planning to give his adoptive daughter for her thirteenth birthday. This year, he was doing something big.  
Two hours later, Naru got up, showered, put up her hair, and ate a very large breakfast at Ichiraku's.

"I see you passed!" Ayame said cheerfully, handing Naru a bowl of Miso ramen.

"Yeah, now I'm one step closer to becoming Hokage!" She said happily, pounding one fist in the air.  
She ate ten bowls, paid, and left, arriving at the training grounds at exactly nine 'o' clock.

"Your late, Naru!" Sakura accused, grumpy at the whole no breakfast thing.  
Feeling kind of bad, Naru pulled out two scrolls she had sealed food in for just an occasion.

"Here, I figured this would happen and you guys wouldn't eat, so I brought these." Sakura looked ready to turn her devotion from Sasuke to Naru at that instant, and Sasuke would have joined her.  
After the two were fed, they became a lot less, stick up the assish, so to speak.  
Naru got up and walked to one of the stumps, proceding to then pummel it into a toothpick.  
Picture what Rock Lee does to his training stump thingies, that is what she did.  
Sasuke, not wanting to be outdone and caught brooding by his sensei while the loser was steadily training, got up and began training his endurance.  
Sakura, of course, followed Sasuke. Thus revealing her endurance to be that of a three year old's. (Strike that, if I remember correctly, Naru could outrun an angry mob, so she's more one year old level).

Kakashi watched this from a tree, thinking how they were doing better than he expected on an empty stomache.  
He did not know of the sealed emergency breakfasts a certain blonde girl had brought along, having just arrived.

Using his awesome teleportation technique, he appeared in front of a very freaked out Naru. "Good morning!" He eye smiled at her.  
She jumped back and pretended to lose her balance on the landing and fell on her bum.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She whined, rubbing the abused bum. "That was mean!" Having not caught the whole 'pretended' thing, Kakashi merely laughed to himself quietly. He walked to the middle stump, and placed an alarm clock on it. (Remember, alarm clocks are Naru's worst enemy) Naru had an urge to throw many kunai at it, but refrained seeing as it was his alarm clock, and she was already awake.  
Kakashi turned to the three genin, thinking of the many ways he could torture them without killing them and held up two bells.

"Today, you will have to get these bells from me before noon." And of course the duty to ask the stupid question, fell on Naru's shoulders.

"Or what?"

"The one who doesn't get a bell, will be tied to this stump, and we'll eat our lunches in front of them. They will then be sent back to the academy." Kami he was enjoying this! Time to get back at these stupid genin for making a mockery of him!  
So busy was he with his inner gloating, he failed to notice the fast becoming familiar grin of evil upon Naru's lips.  
She knew just what to do.

"Ready?" He asked, they nodded. "Start!"  
The three ninja hopefuls vanished into the woods, surprisingly though, Naru followed Sakura.

"This could be interesting." He commented, deciding to go for the Uchiha first to see what the kunoichi could come up with.

"Hey, Sakura-chan." Naru called softly. Sakura turned, surprised to see that the dead last had followed her.

"Sakura-chan, have you ever heard of a two man cell?" She asked curiously. "Or for that matter, of one genin defeating a jounin?" Seeing the arguement made a lot of sense, Sakura used that big brain of hers for something that did not relate to Sasuke, yet.  
Deciding they had to find Sasuke before it was too late, Naru created several clones to search for the duck butt Uchiha.  
Five minutes later, one of the clones disspelled, and they went that way, knowing Kakashi had found Sasuke.  
When they got there, Naru took out her camera and got her third snapshot in less than 24 hours.  
The only thing showing was Sasuke's very pissed, head.

"Ok, normally I'd laugh and just walk away, but we have an idea about how to win." Naru then made some clones to dig poor sad Sasuke out of the dirt.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked, already knowing of Naru's sadistic attitude.

"Sakura, I need you to cast a mild genjutsu on him, Sasuke, you then procede to herd him back to the training grounds. I'll need ten minutes to set up, then get him there, ok?" The three set off, two of them putting all their trust into one blond girl.  
Sasuke and Sakura waited ten minutes, then began herding their sensei to his doom.

Kakashi's POV

Having just dodged several kunai and shurikens, I realised I was under a genjutsu. Due to having too much chakra, I knew Naru could not use genjutsu. Therefor, this meant Sakura was working with Sasuke.  
I decided to play along and see what they had in store.

This decision was very bad, sadly I did not know it yet. Eventually, they herded me to the training grounds. By now I was considering revealing my sharingan, if only to be prepared for the worst.  
Before moving on this tempting offer, I found myself in the middle of the clearing.

"Sealing art, unbreakable bonds!" My eye widened in surprise as dozens of chains flew from the Earth and began to ensnare me.  
By turning my head, I made out Naru's crouched form. She was panting, and one hand was bleeding.  
Looking closer, I saw the clearing was one big seal.  
I felt a tug at my belt and found Sakura had taken the bells.

"Naru, would you mind letting me go?" I asked tiredly, the chains were too strong to get out of.

"No problem." She made some handsigns and poured chakra into her seal.

"Sealing art, captive realease!" The chains dissappeared and she stood unsteadily.

"Naru, are you-" I didn't get to finish as she collapsed from blood loss and I rushed to catch her before she fell.  
"Ok, that answers my question." I said absently.  
We set Naru up against one of the stumps and I treated her hand.

"She dug into her hand with a kunai to get blood for the seal." I observed. The seal itself was a work of genius! I'd never seen a seal like this, even Minato would have admired it to no end.

"Where did she learn this?" Sakura asked aloud. "I didn't know what she had in mind, but using her blood to make a trap wasn't what I was expecting."

"Her scores were the lowest in the academy, but this seal is so intricate." I scratched my head in confusion. "Great, now I can't tell if she's an idiot or a genius."

Normal POV

**"Kit, I've healed your hand and got your cells multiplying."** Kyu announced in the middle of their game. **"You should probably wake up now, they're getting worried."**

"Aw!" Naru whined. "Fine, Kyubi-sensei."  
She concentrated on the outside world and woke up back in her body. Well, technically she never left it, but you got the idea.

"Good to see your awake." Kakashi said cheerfully. Inside, he was thinking, thank Kami, now I won't have to tell lord Hokage I killed his adoptive granddaughter.

"Did we pass?" She asked hopefully. Sakura held up the two bells.

"Well, there are two bells, and three of you." Kakashi observed cooly.

"So Sakura, who are you giving the other bell to?" Sakura was going through an inner conflict at the moment. On one hand, she wanted to stay with Sasue-kun, on the other she would never have gotten the bells without Naru.  
Naru cleared her throat, loudly.

"Ahem!" She coughed. "Kakashi-sensei, this was about teammwork, right?"

"Yes, partly." He confirmed. He wasn't really paying attention, due to the fact his precious did not appear to be in his kunai pouch like it was supposed to be.

"Looking for this?" Naru held up the Icha Icha, which was like a bible for Kakashi Hatake. No, it was more like the kid he never did or would have.

"How'd you get that!" He cried desparingly, knowing her dislike of perverts.

"I got it off of you when you were talking to Sakura-chan!" She revealed.

"Your a pick-pocket!" He accused.

"Now now, if I was in real pick-pocket mode, you'd be lucky to have a cent on you!" She laughed. Growing somewhat serious, she hopped up and walked to where Sasuke was watching in silent and invisible amusement.

"Hey, Sasuke, think you could burn this for me?" These nine words were more than enough to prompt action from the now porn deprived sensei.

"Ok, ok!" He waved his hands desperatly. "You pass! You all pass!" Naru smirked cruelly and tossed the not so innocent book to her new sensei.

"We get our first mission tommorrow, meet at the bridge at seven." He poofed out of existence.(Really he was running home to make sure his baby was unharmed)

"Yeah, we passed!" Naru cried, jumping high into the air and wishing she had some asprin.

Before they seperated, Naru called to get their attention.

"Hey guys, thanks for trusting me today." She said, arms behind her head.

"I have to admit I had my doubts, but you pulled through, Naru-chan." Sakura admitted. Confused as to the affix at the end of her name, Naru paused.

"Please repeat that last bit." She requested.

"What's wrong with Naru-chan?" Sakura asked, confused why any girl would not want to be called cute.

"Sorry, it's just no one's ever used chan with my name." She admitted uncomfortingly. This caught Sasuke's attention, as he'd been silently calling her chan in his head all day. 'Never? Why not? She is cute.' He thought to himself.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys in the morning!" She waved and began running back to the village, anxious to be away from the pointed stares of her teammates.  
Stopping to catch her breath, she saw Shikamaru laying in a clearing doing his favorite past time, cloud gazing.

"Hi, Shikamaru." She called, waving empathetically.  
He turned and saw the energetic young blonde, and deciding now was as good a time as any to confront her, he called her over.

"I've been meaning to talk to you, Naru." He said lazily, wondering how she'd react. "I've been watching you train lately."  
Naru gasped, wondering just what he'd seen and when.

"I know everything about you is an act. Your smarter and stronger than you let on, what I want to know is, why hide it?" He was in the middle of a historic moment, a moment where Naru was not bouncing around and yelling at the top of her extremely fit lungs.

"Let's just say, that it would be harder for me, if the villagers knew how strong I was." He was surprised by how, defeated, her voice sounded. Not to mention a depressed Naru scared him cloudless.

"Are you the one who carries me home after I collapse?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, and it's a total drag." He said tiredly. "Why do you always train to exhaustion like that?"

"Because I want to be even stronger." She said simply. "Unlike you, I won't be happy at jounin. I want to be the best, to protect the few important to me. So I can prove them all wrong, that I'm not something they should hate, that I'm me. I work hard, so I can prove my existence." He nodded sagely and they watched the clouds in silence until Naru realised she would be late to go and see the Old Man.

"I'll see you later, Shika." She said, and ran from the clearing and all the way to Hokage tower.

She opened the door, after saying a polite hello to the secretary. Inside, Old Man was battling the bane of Kages everywhere. The immortal nemesis known as paperwork!

"Old Man, why don't you make a shadow clone do that?" She asked curiously.  
The Old Man paused, his eye ticking in irritation that he,(a genius) had not thought of something so simple.

"Naru, your a genius!" He proclaimed, already making the proper handsigns.  
Once the clone was busily working, they went to the next room to talk in peace. Or as peaceful as a talk can be with the council in the same room.

"So Naru, Kakashi told me you passed his test with flying colors." The Old Man started, lowering himself into his chair.

"Yeah, check out this snap shot I got of it!" She pulled out the picture of the bodiless Sasuke.

"My, I doubt he liked that." Sarutobi commented, a laugh playing on his lips.  
Suddenly the door burst open to reveal a small boy of about six or seven wearing a very long scarf.

"Ha, Old Man, now I'll finally defeat you and take your spot as Hokage!" Halfway into the room, he tripped on his deadly scarf and went flying.  
He landed at Naru's feet and she was considering poking him with her shinobi sandal.  
He got up and scowled at the girl.

"You set a trap for me?" He growled, fists clenching.

"You tripped on your scarf." She said cooly, still looking happily at her picture.

"As if, you obviously set a trap for me!" He insisted. "I can see your a ninja, therefor, you must be my rival! I'll defeat you, then my grandpa!"  
He charged her and she moved out of the way, pocketed her photo, and watched him face plant the floor.  
"Listen kid, I haven't got the time to play!" She said angrily.

"Just try and hit me!" He challenged, on his feet again. "You can't, can you! Because I'm Konohamaru, grandson of the third Hokage!"  
Before he could go on, she decided to do the ninja world a favor and shut the brat up. This resulted in a very sad Konohamaru sitting on the floor and cradeling the lump on his head.

"What was that about not being able to hit you?" She asked.

An hour later, she was fully aware of the boy following her. You would be to if there was a box painted like a rock with eyes shadowing your steps.  
She rounded a corner and pulled off her, become-the-fence, trick. When Konohamaru rounded the corner, he threw off the box when he couldn't see her.

"She must have known I was tailing her! Truly she must be a great ninja!"

"As much as I agree with that statement," Naru said, pulling away the fence cloak thingy. "I got to say it was a little obvious. First off, rocks are not square. Second, they don't have eyes."  
He inspected his disguise and bowed his head in shame. He quickly recovered and ran to Naru, kneeling at her feet.

"Take me on as your apprentice!" He begged. "Please, boss!" She groaned, but seeing as she had nothing better to do, accepted his offer.

"On one condition." She said, holding up one finger. "What I say, goes. If I say jump, your only question is how high, got it?"  
He nodded his head and followed her like a lost puppy to the secret training grounds she used.

"I've never been here before." Konohamaru commented.

"That's good, because this is my secret training grounds, and I don't want too many people to know about it." She said, slightly relieved.

"Now, we'll start off with a test of your skills, so I can see how far you are in training." His eyes practically sparkled, making her think of Lee when you offered to teach him a new technique. Meaning it slightly scared her.

"I want you to run laps around that pond until you collapse." She ordered. "This is to show how long you can run when trying to get away from an enemy ninja." He nodded, saluted, and started running around and around and around the pond.  
It took twenty laps before he collapsed, a personal best for the young ninja hopeful.

"How'd I do?" He asked from his spot on the ground.

"Not bad for an academy student." She commented. "Though, your stamina and speed need a little work. I could've caught you without breaking a sweat."  
They trained together until Konohamaru collapsed, Naru decided to carry him home.

The next day, she met her team at the bridge. While waiting for their sensei, they (Mainly Sakura and Naru) chatted about nothing in particular. That is until the subject of Naru's jacket came into question.

"You almost glow! There's no way that jacket is ninja attire!" Sakura argued, more looking for a reason to drag Naru to the mall than caring about her being used for target practice.

"Loser, your going to get us all killed wearing that." Personally Sasuke just wanted to see a bit more of Naru's skin.

"Are you kidding?" Naru almost roared. "Your talking to the girl who can paint the Hokage monuments without being seen! And you tell me I'll get us killed?" You had to admit, when Naru pulled out the evidence, it was hard to argue. Like her mother before her, she was hard to beat at an arguement.

"If I can hide in neon orange, I can hide in anything!" She declared. Kakashi chose now to appear in a leaf whirlwind, fearing if he waited much longer, Naru would be bound, gagged, and dragged to the mall.

"Yo." He eye smiled at them.

"Your late!" Screamed two of his charges while the third continued brooding. Brooding is Sasuke's favorite past time.

"Sorry, I saw this black cat and had to go the long way around to avoid bad luck for our first mission." His students berated him anyway, even though today it had been true.  
They got their mission from the Hokage, a boring D-rank, poor kids.  
To be honest, it was an A-rank in disguise. For this mission was none other than catch Tora the devil cat!

"I've heard horror stories about this mission." Naru paled. "They say that Tora is actually a ninja under a permanent transformation jutsu! What's more, they say that the cat has been known to kill genin and feed them to her kittens!"  
Kakashi fully agreed with this, seeing as there was no other excuse for a cat living that long and being able to avoid ANBU for hours at a time.  
As for the eating genin part, he could always hope it had a taste for blondes.

However, Naru had an idea about catching Tora with minimal body harm. She had invented these just on the occasion she would come face to face with the one tailed demon cat.  
She called them, Catnip bombs.  
Having found her sensei's house,(By going back to ANBU HQ for his file) she let off two catnip bombs, drawing every cat in a fifty mile radius.

"All we got to do is find the brown one with a red ribbon on one ear!" She announced.


	3. Chapter 3

LC; chappie three, yipee!  
*Naruto and Sasuke are tied back to back*  
Sasuke; *Eye twitching* Naruto, in what universe is it ok to give LC coffee?  
Naruto; She confused your coffee with her chocolate milk!  
LC; Silence slaves! *Brandishes whip*  
Naruto; Let's just get into the story. *Cries anime tears*  
Sasuke; *Scarred for life* Agreed.

Chapter 3, a ninja's life for me! (I like rhyming)

Twenty, that is how many damned rank missions they have done. They had figured out what the D in D-ranks meant. It means damned, dull, or dumb!  
Currently team seven was standing in the hokage's office as he was looking through the remaining d-ranked missions.  
"Let's see, we have catching Tora, washing the Inuzuka's dogs, walking the Inuzuaka's dogs, baby sitting the Turner triplets, or-" He was cut off by a frustrated cry from Naru.  
"No, No, No, NO!" She repeated this like a mantra. "No more lame D-ranks! We've done enough for a C-rank! We need a real mission! You don't even have to be a ninja for most of those jobs!"  
Everyone knew just which one she meant you had to be a ninja for, Tora had yet to age or slow in all these years.  
Though he would never admit it, Sasuke agreed whole heartedly with his blonde teammate.  
Saqkura was more hesitant, but she didn't want to chase Tora either.  
Iruka stood and began yelling about how all genin had to earn their stripes.  
"Earn our stripes?" Oh no, he pissed her off. "We are not ninja! We're your errand kids! Your pushing the jobs no one else wants to do on us!"  
He shrank back and let the Old Man take the brunt of the KI.  
"How about this, Old Man, if I get first blood off you in a fight, you give us a better mission." She offered coyly.  
(No one had seen Naru's sexy jutsu as of yet)  
"Fine." he accepted, standing up to humor the little girl.  
With the now familiar grin that made Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura back away slowly, Naru made some handsigns.  
"Sexy jutsu!" She cried.  
And low and behold, a beautiful d-cup, pig tailed, and naked Naru of about sixteen stood in the office. She also had clouds covering the parts that matter, but it was more than enough to send Iruka, Kakashi, and Sarutobi flying back with nosebleeds.  
"Now can we have a better mission?" She said sexily, her features pulled in an adorable pout. "Please, lord Hokage?"  
He nodded, staring at the twin peaks, and with a poof worthy of the fairly Odd Parents, she changed back into Twelve year old Naru. Fully clothed.  
No one noticed Sasuke discreetly wiping away the blood under his nose.

"Your client is a bridge builder from the land of Waves. Come in, Tazuna!" The door opened, revealing a tall drunken old man wearing a wierd looking straw hat thing.  
"What, you think these kids can protect me?" He demanded. "I mean look at them! The blonde one looks like she's still in pre-school!"  
Tazuna obviously did not notice the ever growing tick mark and Naru's forehead, because he kept talking. "And the jacket? What are you going for, traffic cone?"  
He could insult her hieght, he could insult her clothes, but what he said next drove her over the edge. "And what is with those wierd whisker marks on her cheeks? She some kind of cat?"  
Kakashi recognized the KI and immediatly grabbed the back of Naru's jacket before she could kill their client. "What did you say about my whisker marks!" Tazuna jumped and hid behind the door in fright. "I'll show you to insult my birthmarks! I'm going to give you matching marks with my kunai! When I'm done with you being drunk will be the least of your problems! Let me go, Kakashi-sensei!"  
Meanwhile, Sakura and Sasuke were whispering about the marks themselves. "They look almost like scars, for a while I was toying with the idea that she had an accident with a kunai." Sakura said.  
"I wonder if all Uzumakis have those marks or if it's unique for her." Sasuke pondered.  
"Are you two talking about my marks too?" The KI was now directed at them, freezing them like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  
Unable to reach Tazuna to personally strangle him, Naru settled for throwing a kunai and smashing the bottle of sake he'd brought with him. "I'll teach you to underestimate Naru Uzumaki!"  
"Tazuna, please apologise!" Kakashi pleaded. "Trust me, you don't want to make her angry!"  
Tazuna had been scared sakeless, (Literaly, since she broke the bottle) and agreed without a fight. "I'm sorry for making fun of your whiskers!"  
She calmed down and Kakashi let her go. "Hey, ninja-san, why should I be afraid of this shrimp?" Tazuna asked, forgetting the amazing KI from two seconds ago.  
"Naru has a habit of being sadistic." Kakashi said tiredly, thinking about how she had threatened his precious.

Naru went to her apartment and sealed everything she would need into the seals sewn into her clothes. Instead of bringing her normal Kunai pouch, she brought the one she'd been sewing seals onto for a month.  
Since sealing was an art few people knew, everyone would just think she'd wanted a pretty stylish pouch instead of a regular one.  
She sealed dozens of weapons into the seals. She didn't think she would need to bring her twin blades on this mission, but it was better safe than sorry. So she sealed them into a scroll and hid that up her sleeve.  
She also put on the new wieghts she had bought yesterday. She set them to the most her body could handle and used the walk to the gates to get used to the wieght.  
To disguise her slow walk, she took out a notepad and began her calculations for an ice exploding seal. She knew she had to find a way to mix wind and water, but she couldn't figure out just how to do it.  
"Damn, this is harder than I thought it would be." She cursed, crossing out the third failed design.  
"What is?" She jumped and looked up to see she had reached the gates and Sasuke and Sakura were looking at her expectantly. "I'm trying to fix a way to make an ice exploding seal, but it's hard to combine two elements to get the desired effect."  
The two just blinked at the strangely inteligent answer.  
"I see we're all here!" Kakashi jumped from a tree, and Tazuna nearly had a heart attack.  
"Well, let's go!" He eye smiled at everyone and nudged them forward.  
Naru almost ran out of the gates, never before had she been outside the village and she'd been looking forward to it. The fact her birthday would come and go while she was gone was an added bonus.  
"Hey sensei, how long will this mission take?" Sakura asked. "My mom asked me to be back before the festival."  
"Oh sorry Sakura, but we'll probably be there for a while." Kakashi said to the heart broken girl, the festival was her favorite celebration of the year.  
"Aw, now I won't be able to wear the new kimono my mom made me!" She whined. "Hey Sasuke-kun, Naru-chan, what do you guys do on the day of the Fourth's festival?"  
"I don't do anything, it's just another day." Sasuke said cooly.  
Naru didn't reply, she was busy thinking about how every year she'd been beaten on that day. "Naru-chan?"  
She blinked and turned to Sakura.  
"What do you on the Kyubi festival? I don't think I've ever seen you there." She asked her friend.  
"I usually don't go out that day." She answered. "I don't see much point on celebrating a day so many died on."

Kakashi's POV

When Sakura mentioned her mother, Naru's eyes became dull and lifeless, her face so serious I absently wondered if this was really Naru.  
I knew that she had often been beaten on that date, I also knew it was her birthday, and that she didn't have parents. Sasuke also seemed to notice Naru's sudden change in emotion. He had been staring at her a lot lately, I think it's a little budding crush.  
Sakura doesn't seem to fawn over Sasuke as much anymore either, it seems she's getting over her crush. When Naru answered Sakura, the smile seemed less than genuine, and I think both Sakura and Sasuke noticed, though they didn't say anything.  
Tazuna obviously did not partake in the conversation, not knowing what festival they were talking about.  
Looking up the road, I noticed a small puddle, though it hadn't rained in weeks.  
Glancing at Naru, I saw she had noticed the puddle as well. Her body tensed and I saw her hand twitch toward her kunai pouch that was decorated with seals.  
We passed the puddle, and I began to think maybe we weren't their targets, when the demon brothers jumped out of the puddle.  
I used a substitution to get out of a tight spot and decided to see just who they were after.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried desparingly. The demon brothers turned to their quarry and seperated, one going for Naru, the other for Tazuna. Sasuke had used a kunai and shuriken to trap their chain to the trunk of a tree.  
Naru jumped into the air and created several shadow clones to help her knock out the chunin.  
Knowing she had to keep up appearances, she allowed herself to get cut on one of the gauntlents. She realised her mistake when her body began feeling the effects of the poison on the weapon.  
One of her clones snuck up behind him while two others distracted him, the clone knocked him out and Naru turned to see Kakashi had taken down the other ninja.  
"Your alive!" She gasped, pointing an acusing finger at the apparition.(Fancy word for ghost) He was too busy staring at the demon bro behind her to notice her gasp.  
"Naru, are you feeling ok?" He asked, slightly concerned about the poison. "It's just a scratch sensei!" She played dumb. "Naru, the demon brothers use poison in their weapons. I'm sorry I didn't intervene faster, it looked like you had him covered and I honestly expected you to be a clone. I didn't mean for you to get hurt."  
She stared at her hand, focusing on the feeling of the poison. She didn't really have to worry about poison because of Kyu, but since her teammates didn't know about her tenant, obviously they'd be worried.  
"Kakashi-sensei, we should go back to the village and get Naru a doctor!" Sakura cried.  
Naru really did not like doctors, hospitals, needles, or for that matter, medicine of any kind. So she took matters into her own hand and brought out a kunai.  
Without flinching, she dug into her hand and let the poison drain out with the blood. While doing that, she sank to one knee and began searching her jacket for the gauze she kept on her at all times.  
Finding it, she began wrapping her hand to stanch the building, and to hide it was already mostly healed.  
"Well, I suppose that takes care of the poison, but you did lose a lot of blood, Naru." Kakashi said, mildly impressed that she didn't flinch at stabbing herself, and mildly uncomfortable about letting his student harm herself intentionaly.  
A fight ensued about going back or completing the mission, Tazuna spat out a sob story, Naru said she'd go and wouldn't run away, Sasuke brooded, and Sakura would not leave Sasuke so, they decided to stay on the mission.

Now they were officially in the land of Waves, and as such all of them were on high alert. None more so, than Naru. Thanks to Kyu, her senses were almost four times better than a human's and twice as good as a dog's.  
She knew two people, shinobi, were following, she could smell, hear, and sense them with her chakra. They were hiding their chakra signatures, but as many would come to learn, Naru has the unique ability to not only think outside the box, but completly destroy it.  
So when Kakashi yelled 'Down!', she just grabbed Tazuna and pulled him down, hoping her teammates wouldn't freeze and be killed as a giant sword flew through the air and embedded itself in a nearby tree.  
She didn't have to turn around to recognise the man who had thrown it. 'Only one man had a sword like that, Zabuza Mumochi, just what I needed, a missing-nin who hates me.'  
"So your Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Cat ninja." Against her better judgement, she turned to see how much he'd changed. The answer, not a wit.  
"Never pegged you for a baby sitter-" Oh crap, he'd caught sight of Naru. "Naru Uzumaki!"  
"Uh, hey, Zabuza." She chuckled uneasily. Oh great, now the old eye twitch is back.  
"Why the Hell are you here?" He asked, growling and most likely wishing he hadn't thrown his sword away. "Um, I'm on a mission to protect this old bridge builder." She offered, wondering how long it would take for her to get her double blades from the sealing scroll up her sleeve.  
"Naru, how do you know an A-rank missing-nin?" Kakashi asked curiously.  
"Ehehehe, he was infiltrating the Leaf village and I found him out." She was trying to think of a way out. "I was like, six at the time."  
Without warning, Zabuza ran for his sword, hoping that Naru wouldn't be able to stop him or get there before he did.  
"Alright brat, it's time I paid you back for six years ago!" He yelled, pulling the blade out of the tree.  
Naru had used this time to pull out a sealing scroll. With a puff of smoke, she stood wielding two beautiful Katanas. "Zabuza, you and me are gonna dance!" She announced, fully pepped up for the fight.  
"Naru, you are an untried genin! You can't take on an A-rank missing-nin! Especially not this one! He's Zabuza Mumochi, demon of the Blood Mist village-"  
"I know exacly who he is, Kakashi!" She yelled. "As for him being a demon." She scoffed. "It's time you met a real one." This last was barely audible, but everyone heard it none the less.

"Let's get started." Zabuza said, lifting his sword. "No, let's finish it!" Naru replied, twirling her blades in the style of Wind he himself had taught her. "Let's see if the student has surpassed the sensei." She chuckled happily.  
They charged eachother, the battle mostly kenjutsu with ninjutsu thrown into the mix. Nothing short of awesome would describe the battle.  
With a start, Zabuza seemed to gain the upper hand as he knocked away both blades. "How can you beat me without those blades?" He taunted her, heaving his own blade on his shoulders.  
"Why, with my newest weapon." She drew out another scroll, and he waited patiently for her to call out the coolest looking scythe he'd seen in a while. He whistled in admiration and the two attacked eachother again.  
Meanwhile, Kakashi and the group were sitting under a tree and wishing they had popcorn. "Who knew she was so good at kenjutsu." Kakashi muttered. "Not to mention her movements are suddenly so much more fluid and graceful."  
Sasuke spoke up now. "It's almost like she's been holding back."  
Secretly and silently, everyone agreed with his statement. "Only real question is, why?" Kakashi said absently. He made a mental note to ask when this was over.  
Meanwhile, back in the fight, Naru was slowly gaining the edge. Her stamina and chakra greatly surpassing Zabuza's.  
They seperated but stayed at the ready, in case one of them decided to use a surprise attack. "You've improved kid."  
He admitted. "Your even better with that scythe than with your blades. Tell me, where'd you get it?"  
"Inheritence." She said coyly. "My mother apparently used this only when she was seriously pissed off at someone."  
He humphed and they began their clash again, while a certain copy cat ninja was sweating bullets.  
'She knows about her parents?' The hokage was gonna have his head for this!  
The two fought tooth and nail, neither gaining or losing any ground. Zabuza had size and strength, where Naru had speed and agility. The two were evenly matched.  
Finally, just when they both seemed on the verge of collapse, somthing happened.  
Naru smiled, knelt to one knee, and lay the scythe on the ground in front of her. "You giving up, kid?" Zabuza quierried.  
"Oh no, I just want to make sure the scythe isn't in my way." She said with a determinned smirk.

His eyes widened as he realised what she was preparing to do. Naru knew this would be close, but she needed an unstoppable finisher.  
"Zabuza-sensei, it's been fun." She sighed, pulling out a long blank scroll. She nicked her thumb and drew a very complex seal. "This is the end, any final words?"  
"Just these, Haku, get over here!" Crap, she'd forgotten about the second presence! A feminine looking boy with long black hair and wearing a hunter-nin mask appeared by Zabuza's side. "Yes, master?"  
"Haku, use your gekki genkai to make an ice prison before she finishes that scroll!" He ordered.  
Haku built up a prison, but Naru kept calmly drawing.  
Her teammates chose now to enter the battle, if only to buy Naru some time.  
Zabuza had apparently forgotten about the audience because he was surprised when Kakashi jumped in front of him with a kunai, sharingan blazing.  
The three ninja fought to hold them off, until they felt KI like never before. None of them could move, only stand in frozen rapture as the ice dome prison shattered and Naru stood as though nothing had happened.  
"Zabuza, a fox is a lot harder to catch than that." She scoffed calmly, pulling out her finished scroll.  
She unfurled the scroll as she ran to the missing-nin. "Sealing art, a thousand bloody blades!"  
The squiggles on the scroll came to life and really did become a thousand assorted blades, covered in the blood used to make them.  
Haku managed to block, deflect, or help Zabuza dodge most of the blades. But some of them, found their mark. Three of them had pierced his right arm, which he'd used to defend his chest.  
"I see you've perfected that technique." He grunted, pulling the blades out painfully. "We'll retreat for now, Haku." Haku swung one of Zabuza's arms over his shoulders and used a teleportation jutsu to get away.  
Leaving behind a very tired, very pissed off Naru. "Zabuza you coward!" She roared.  
She could say no more as the toll of the technique kicked in and she fell into the waiting arms of her sensei. "Naru, you really are the Leaf's number one unpredictable ninja."

It had been three days, and still Naru did not wake up. Kakashi said it was normal, but her new found friends worried none the less for their blonde enigma.  
"She's hiding so much from us, her teammates!" Sakura ranted, absently fiddling with Naru's now loose hair.  
"You can't really blame her, from what Kakashi told us, it's understandable she wouldn't trust us right away." Sasuke drawled , mostly just wishing he could be anywhere else. "I mean, she's basically a living sealing scroll, but the villagers see her as the thing sealed inside."  
Sakura sighed sadly and stopped messing with her teammates hair. "That doesn't explain why she hides her skill."  
"Maybe she thought they would only presecute her more if they knew she was strong." Kakashi offered, not really paying attention as he was reading his precious.  
A small groan alerted the mismatched team, and everyone turned to see the waking Naru.  
"Geez, I feel like I just went 100 rounds with Gai." She groaned. Kakashi, knowing almost everything there was to know about Gai, thought it was likely she would feel that way.  
"Well, glad to see your finally awake!" Kakashi said happily. Naru sat up and tested out her muscles for soreness. "Damn, I'd forgotten how fast he was." She groaned, remembering her fight with the demon of the Blood Mist village.  
"Speaking of, why don't you explain a few things to us, eh, Naru?" Kakashi said, snapping his book closed.  
She sighed, having known it was coming anyway. "Fine, what do you want to know?"  
"First off, how much do you know about your heritage?" He asked, slightly nervous.  
"I know, more than you do actually." She said in all seriousness.  
"Ok," So much for it being a fluke of bluff. "What about, how did you learn sealing?"  
"One day, when I was hiding out in the shinobi library, I found a big scroll that read, Beginning Sealing. I was hooked, seeing as I knew my father's reputation, and of course having the physical evidence forever on my skin."  
He scratched the back of his head in embarrasment, before speaking again. "Naru, I'm afraid I had to tell Sakura and Sasuke about your tenant." He could almost swear her eyes slitted, which freaked him even more.  
Now he remembered why he did not have a girl friend, girls were scary. Guys were much safer. Somewhere else, Iruka sneezed.

"I don't recall using the Kyubi's chakra, so why'd you tell them?" She growled, trying to stay calm. "A little of the fox's KI leaked out, and since they knew a normal genin could never muster up that level of KI, they knew it was something else."  
She growled and got up, looking for her jacket.  
She was only wearing her belly button tank top, and biker shorts. Sasuke almost had to smack himself to get himself to turn away from the raised rump of Naru as she bent down and picked up her clothes sitting in the corner. He is a male after all, it's only logical he would have hormones.  
As it were however, Naru caught him peeking. "See something you like, Pervy-Uchiha?" She growled at him, almost feraly.  
He blushed and looked away no problem and did not look again until certain she was wearing something less revealing.  
"I seem to recall a certain law about not telling people who don't need to know." She said darkly.  
Having had enough fun tormenting her sensei, she dropped the subject. "Did you guys by any chance pick up my scythe?"  
Kakashi opened the closet and tossed it over to her.  
"I tried sealing it back in the scroll you dropped, but it wouldn't work for me." He said, handing her the scroll.  
"I'd be surprised if it did, I made this myself and it only responds to my chakra signature. A handy trick to know if you want to keep something away from someone else."  
Naru then proceded to seal her beloved sharp scythe and put it back in her jacket's inner pocket.  
She put on her Kunai holster onto her right leg, and her pouch on the right side. "Alright, anymore questions?"  
"I have one." Sasuke said cooly. "What's your actual skill level?"  
She hesitated before answering. "High chunin tentative jounin." She muttered, fumbling in her pockets to find the pieces of ribbon she used for her hair.  
"That makes sense, except for the fact you made Zabuza retreat." Kakashi said dryly. "And he's in the elite jounin."  
"I'm low jounin for most of my skills." She admitted. "However, if you factor in my sealing talents, and my exceptional kenjutsu capablities, you get someone in the elite. I'm most likely your level, give or take a few notches."  
After another anime face fall, they just decided to accept what she'd said, even if it was hard to believe. "Oh, and if you were wondering why I hid my skill, my way of fighting includes the element of surprise. Hence the title, number one unpredictable ninja."  
Kakashi had to admit, it made sense in a wierd, twisted sense of the word.

All that day was spent teaching Sakura and Sasuke how to tree walk. Naru stayed with Tazuna during this time, in case of anymore attacks.  
At the rate the men were working, it was going to be a year before they could leave. "Tazuna, I can't stand doing nothing, mind if I help?" Naru asked the man, while leaning against the cement railing, hands crossed over chest.  
"Not sure what good a kid can do, but your free to help." He snapped.  
She smirked and made about thirty clones to go and help with building the bridge. "Ahhahaha, at this rate it'll be done in a week!" Tazuna roared with laughter.  
Two days passed, Sasuke and Sakura mastered the excersize, and the bridge was nearing completion.  
That same day, when they sat down to dinner, Inari merely scowled at them. "Why are you still here!" He demanded. "No one can beat Gato, your throwing your lives away by trying! He'll kill you! You have no idea what he's done to us, what we've been through! You don't know anything about suffering!"  
Naru could only take so much before she snapped. Slamming her palm down on the table, she screamed. "Know nothing about suffering? Your talking to the girl who, just because she was born, has been hated by her entire village for as long as she can remember! Your talking to the girl who never knew what having a family was! Who was beaten mercilessly, on her birthday! What do you have to cry about? You have a mom, and a grandfather! You never had to sleep in the alley! You always had a nice soft bed and warm food to come home to! As for beating Gato, you could do it to if you didn't lose yourself in your self pity! You got two good legs, two good arms, so get the Hell up and use them!"  
She turned away from the table and stormed out the door, almost knocking the door off it's hinges in the process.  
She was so beyond pissed.


	4. Chapter 4

LC; Never a bore, it's chapter 4!  
Naruto; Why did you spell tale t-a-i-l?  
LC; Because your gonna sprout... a tail!  
Naruto;*Imagines what he'd look like and faints*  
Sasuke; And you came up with this messed up idea, how?  
LC; it's a wonderful thing called fotobucket! I found a pic of Naruto with a tail and fox ears!  
Sasuke; *Imagines the secret love of his life with fox ears and tail, and faints with nosebleed*  
LC; I knew Sasuke was a pervy-Uchiha!  
Disclaimer, I just realised I never did one! Me no own Naruto, yet. *Looks at Kishimoto* Please! Please with fox ears on top!  
Kishimoto; *Calls a lawer.* NO!  
Lawer; Sure...sue...sue!  
LC; on to my chappie!

Chappie 4, A Tail worth remembering

The only thing Naru wanted to do now, was to break something. She began punch and kicking random trees to let off stress.** "Come on, Kit, you know he didn't mean it."** Kyu tried to console his upset student.  
"I know, I just hate cry babies who don't do anything to make their lives better." She said, leaning against the trunk of one of the only trees to be spared.  
**"You can't stay here Kit, it's late in the season, you'll freeze."** Kyu said softly. He was right, she knew, especially after seeing her breath float away in wisps.  
Slowly, in no real hurry, Naru made her way back to Tazuna'z house.  
She was not expecting for the lights to flash on and everyone to jump out and yell, 'Surprise'!

After blinking to adjust her eyes to the sudden glare, she glanced around the room. On the kitchen table sat a cake with her name written in frosting.  
"Happy birthday, Naru!" They congratulated her. She was beyond confused now, why would someone be wishing her a happy birthday? Why was this one, so different from every other?  
After everyone had cake and Naru discovered what it tasted like, surprisingly good for some bread.  
"Present time!" Tsuname announced, clapping her hands excitedly, as if it were her birthday.  
Sakura came up first. "Here, I hope you like it!"  
Inside the wrapped up box with a bow, was a necklace with a fox pendant. The minute sized eyes were little rubies, and the body glistened like gold. "Thank you." She said politely, almost afraid to offend anybody.  
Kakashi-sensei came up next, holding a book out to her. At first, she was hesitant to open the little black book, afraid it could be a perverted novel.  
She was relieved to find it to be a normal bingo book with detailed inscriptions on many different missing-nin.  
She promised silently, that the picture of Zabuza would very soon have an x through it.  
Inari came up with a toy boat, he apologized for yelling false accusations at her earlier. She guessed Kakashi had set him straight.  
Tazuna gave her a book on the care of weapons, something that would no doubt be useful. Tsuname's gift was a beautiful blue and red kimono made of cotton, which she could wear on day's off.  
Sasuke surprised her when he came up with his own present. It was another book, but this one had lined pages and each one was blank, except for the last page, which had a message.  
_Dear Naru,_  
_I know I don't talk much, but I hope you can at least understand the purpose of this book without my explaining it to you verbally._  
_Just write whatever you feel like in here, formulas for seals, jutsu, thoughts, whatever._  
_I hope someday I'll get to see a jutsu that you made in these very pages, that'd make my day._  
_Your friend,_  
_Sasuke Uchiha  
__P.S., can you please stop calling me Pervy-Uchiha? It was an accident!_  
This gift, was perhaps the smallest, but it was her favorite by far. She had a friend.

When Naru fell asleep with a small smile playing on her lips, she opened her eyes in a forest clearing. Kyu was resting against a tree not too far away. **"Hey kit, happy birthday!"**  
She smiled and ran up to him, sitting down in front of him like any other apprentice. **"Kit, the council has agreed to letting you become my official heir, on one condition."** His smile dropped and he instantly became serious, which is wierd for Kyu.  
**"You must become a Hanyou before they will give you the official title."** He said grimly. **"Before giving your answer, know that this is very painful, and there may be physical characteristics that are changed, think carefully."**  
She bowed her head and thought it through rationally. One the one hand, if she did this, she would get the fox summoning contract and be trained to become a fox sage, not to mention being taught things only fox demons could do. On the other hand, the physical aspects could be hard to hide, and she didn't know how anyone would react to it.  
She made her desicion and looked determinedly at her sensei. "I accept the risks and am willing to become a half fox demon."  
He smiled and nodded, dreading it all the same.  
**"Alright, before I begin, you should know, that as soon as you feel the chakra flooding you system, you have to accept it."** He warned solemnly. **"If your body rejects it, then you could die."**  
She nodded and he held his hand out, palm facing her.  
Her screams echoed through the seemingly endless mindspace, only stopping when the Kyubi had given her as much chakra as her body could hold at one point before it intergrated.

Kyu continued feeding her body chakra, no sooner had the pain faded and chakra settled, then he force-fed her another tail's worth. It took the entire night to feed Naru all nine tails worth of chakra.  
In everything but blood, she was his daughter. And even her blood was beginning to change because of the chakra.  
When she awoke the next day, she clawed away the blankets, trying to get up and find a mirror.  
When the sound of ripping cloth registered, she realised she really did have claws and was tearing her blanket to shreds.  
Oh, this was just too good.  
Running to the bathroom and locking the door, she had to work for several minutes before having enough courage to look in the mirror.  
The changes, her eyes were purple and slitted, her golden hair tinged with red, her canines longer than was normal, and of course, two fox ears sitting atop her unruly hair.  
With the feeling of utmost dread, she glanced behind her and saw just what she had feared, a fox's tail.  
'Kyubi.' She thought ominously. 'Remind me to kill you later.'  
He gulped, fearing the blonde kitsune with all his demonic being.

A dish shattered on the floor in the kitchen, Tsuname had been startled when she turned and saw two shinobi with swords standing right behind her.  
Inari ran into the kitchen to see what the noise was about and saw the two men threatening his mother. Naru's words from the night before at the front of his five year old mind, he charged at the two shinobi.  
Just when one of the swords went through Inari's neck, there was a puff of smoke and suddenly both chunin were unconcious on the ground.  
"Threatening little kids, that's just sad." She muttered ruefully.  
Inari didn't get a very good look at her because she ran out the door and ran to the bridge as fast as her legs would carry her. "Arigatou." He whispered thankfully, for the safety of his mother.  
Tsuname could only sob in relief that her little boy was safe and unscathed.

Naru got to the bridge and met a strange sight. Sasuke was apparently stuck in a glass dome, and Kakashi was getting wailed on by Zabuza.  
She was tempted to go and help Sasuke, but Kakashi needed her help more. She'd have to trust Sasuke could take care of himself for a few minutes. In the mist, Kakashi obviously couldn't see Naru, but with her enhanced senses, she found him easily enough by sniffing out his blood.  
"What happened to Naru?" Zabuza asked tauntingly. "Did her wounds kill her? Or did I frighten her off?"  
Unable to resist the urge, Naru ran up behind him, totally silent, until..."Big words for the man who ran with his tail between his legs, Zabuza-sensei." She taunted.  
She could've sworn he jumped about half a mile into the air. "Expect the unexpected, Zabuza." Kakashi smirked, playing along like he knew she was here the whole time, even if she had only just arrived.  
The tide of the battle switched, and she left to go and help Sasuke.

He was in bad shape, but he had activated his blood line, the sharingan. Normally, this would mean he could keep up with the boy's movements, unfortunatly, due to his injuries, this was not the case.  
Naru ran between the mirrors and took the blow of dozens of senbon. Grunting under the force of the blow, she turned and quickly made hand signs for shadow clones to distract him while she tended to Sasuke.  
"How'd you get here?" He coughed up blood, making her start worrying. "Sasuke, just hold on." She ordered.  
His eyesight was growing dim, he didn't know how much longer he could hold out. "N-Naru...I can't...die. Not yet...not while...he's still out there! My brother."  
His eyes closed, and for a moment, she believed him to have died. Blinded by her rage, her eyes turned red, and she stood to face the boy who had finished off all her clones. "Is this the first time you've lost a comrade?"  
"You know, funny thing is, I didn't consider him a friend until last night." I growled savagely. "The night he accepted me for who I am, not for what everyone sees me as. And you hurt him, well guess what, now, I'm going to hurt you!" This last she roared as she allowed her new demonic chakra to be felt, where as before she'd been disguising it as regular chakra.  
Charging at what she knew was the right mirror, she smashed it with a fist alone. Her fox sensei was silently cowering in the furthest reaches of his mind, dreading when he would feel this power.  
Haku gasped when she punched him again and again, much stronger than any genin should be able to hit. (He momentarily forgot she'd been trained by his master)  
Despite her rage, when the mask cracked and fell, she couldn't bring herself to hit him right between the eyes.

"What's wrong?" Haku asked, slightly confused as to the sudden reprieve. He should have been gratefull, because then Naru hit him again, though not as strong as before. "You won't get anywhere if you don't give it your all."  
But she could not bring herself to deliver the final blow, not after seeing his eyes.

For years, she'd been hated, beaten, feared, ignored, and treated differently, all for something she could not control. Her eyes, reflected the loneliness of her life. His eyes, were the same as hers.  
"Your eyes are the same as mine." She stated bluntly, feeling her tail wave back and forth under the swift genjutsu she'd placed on it.  
His eyes widened and he looked deep into her own. "Your right." He commented sadly. "You know of the pain of being in that blackness." He seemed to make a realization and looked to where the remainder of his mirrors were still floating. "That boy, was he your precious person? The one who pulled you out of it as well?"  
She nodded he head tiredly, then they both heard the sound of thousands of bird's chirps.  
"Master Zabuza!" Haku cried, using his great speed to appear before Kakashi.  
"Haku!" Zabuza cried forlorningly. (Is that a word? If so, is it spelled right?)

The sound of clapping could be heard from the edge of the bridge, the part connecting to the island. When everyone turned to it, they saw Gato standing with roughly a hundred thugs by his side.  
"Aw, what a pity that the boy died before I could repay him for breaking my hand." He said sadly. "Ah well, I'll just content myself with killing off you Zabuza, and everyone else here."  
Zabuza was going to charge them, but Naru held her arm out in front of him. "Wait a minute, Zabuza." Naru ordered, leaving no room for arguement. "He's mine, and besides, I came for a fight, I'm going to get it."  
He nodded, she unsealed out her scythe and held it behind her, ready to be swung forward. "Gato, say your prayers!"  
She charged forward, and with every little move, she brought down a thug.  
In a span of two minutes, she had killed them all, all but one. Gato.

She held her scythe's blade to his pudgy neck, he was sweating bullets. "Gato, where your going, prayers won't do much good. I personally know a few of the demons there, and trust me, they don't like humans." She said quietly, loud enough for only him to hear. "I'll meet you there in a few decades, does that sound good to you?"  
Without letting him answer, she slit his throat and he died, without making a sound.  
As his body fell, she noticed that Zabuza collapsed as well. The many wounds from Kakashi had caught up with him, he was dying.  
His last wish, was to see Haku one last time. Kakashi oblidged and carried him to the boy's side. His eyes were closed now, it looked like he was merely sleeping. But they knew, neither one would open their eyes again.  
The service was short, and only team seven was there, but they gave them a decent burial at least.

The Sun had fallen, the bridge had been completed, and team 7 would leave in the morning. Currently, team 7 was in their guest room, Naru having called them there.  
"You all know about the Kyubi, right?" She asked them. After they nodded confirmation, she continued. "Well, the seal is designed to make my chakra integrate with the fox's chakra over time, but something sped that up." She was lying, but she was a good liar. A very good one, to have hidden her strength level for twelve years. "I think it'll be easier to show you."  
She made a sign, and said release, revealing her ears, eyes, fangs, and tail.  
They each had different reactions. Sakura fainted, Kakashi dropped his pervert novel, and Sasuke, his reaction surprised them the most.  
"Kawai!" He cried, he didn't seem to care that everyone was now staring at him, as he was busy rubbing Naru's ears Kagome style. (you know from Inuyasha? Episode 1? Yeah, like that.)

The next day, the entire village had come to see them off. Once the ninjas dissappeared from sight, Tsuname spoke up. "Father, the bridge still needs a name."  
Tazuna cupped his chin and closed his eyes, deep in though for a suitable name. The only thing he could think about however, was Naru Uzumaki, the spunky blonde, number one unpredictable ninja, and savior of the land of Wave.  
"I can only think of one name." He announced to everyone. "The Great Naru Uzumaki Bridge has a nice ring to it!"  
Everyone in the crowd cheered, and a sign was quickly made. It would stand testiment to Naru's role in Wave's revolution.  
Naru Uzumaki, had started making a name for herself.

They reached their village, and paused before going in. Kakashi had helped her put up a powerful genjutsu that was tied to the lives of three seperate people, her team, her friends.  
Now as she looked at the hokage momuments, she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.  
"Naru Uzumaki is back!" She yelled, loud enough so now everyone in the village knew it before she'd even set foot inside the gates.

Just when they were about to leave, Naru asked them to wait. "I want to show Old Man Hokage, he deserves to know." She explained, making a certain old man suffering from over exposure to paper work curious.  
Pushing aside the evil, ever breeding papers, he spoke to his granddaughter. "Show me what, Naru? Why do they have to be here?"  
Instead of answering, everyone in the group merely helped to dispell the jutsu to reveal Naru's foxy form.  
No one expected his reaction.  
First, he jumped at the surprise, second, he reflexivly pushed back his chair, and broke through the glass.  
His screams could be heard throughout the village, making everyone wonder what had happened?

After a succesful retrieval mission, the Hokage again sat in his chair behind his magically fixed window. "I think I shaved off a few years."  
Indeed he did appear to have a new liver spot. The four ninja wisely decided not to mention it though, because they were convinced it hadn't been there before. It was hard to tell though, he already had a lot of liverspots.

After the team and jounin left his office, Sarutobi began praying that Minato would forgive him for what he'd imagined, if only for a brief instant.  
Seeing Naru as a neko girl had brought up mental pictures of a very naked, slightly older Naru with huge boobs and wearing only red lingerie.  
Wiping away a nosebleed, he forced his mind to return to the dreaded enemy before it swamped his desk and devoured him whole.  
And if there was one thing he did not want to do, it was die of paperwork, no matter how possible it was!

Naru meanwhile, had used this time to get back at Kyu for not telling her just what changes to expect. After making the demon lord cry and beg for mercy, she went out for ramen.  
"Hey Naru, how was your first mission?" Old Man Ichiraku asked.  
"It was great! A complete success!" She boasted proudly, shining her head band. "Now let's have some ramen!"  
"Here' it's on the house!" He said, handing her the bowl.  
Now being Minato's daughter, she was obviously in love with ramen. It was mother's milk to the orphan!

Once the bowls had reached a record twenty two, she leaned back and patted her very satisfied stomache. Meanwhile, Tsuche was writing down the new record bowl and time.  
Naru was literally the ramen eating champ of the world. She owned the Heavy Eating championship belt and everything!  
"One of these days, I'm going to find out just where your putting it all!" Tsuche swore. It was a mystery that had perplexed the philosphers of the Leaf for nigh on Ten years, ever since the first time she wandered into the shop.

She trained for a bit, then went home to take a shower before her mind training with Kyu-sensei. When she entered her mindscape, Kyu was waiting with a scroll half her size and several books and other scrolls.  
"Something tells me that this is going to take a while." She stated, eyeing the leaning tower of books.  
What paperwork was for kages, books were for her.  
Give her a jutsu, no prob, give her a book, she would most likely skip class and go and paint a monument. She had done so once, and by the fires of Hell, she'd do it again next week!

She signed her name in blood, and began training to summon foxes. **"Once you master this, you'll even be able to summon me out of the seal." **Kyubi revealed.** "Of course, I won't show all nine tails unless you summon me to my full size, this can be done by feeding in even more chakra into the summoning. First, you should concentrate on summoning my servants and vassals."**  
She nodded and began the long process of training.

This tail, was certainly going to be one to remember.

\\\\\Page break\\\\\  
LC; whew, it's complete! I feel satisfied!  
Naruto; I like the idea of summoning foxes, but why is Old Man Hokage such a pervert?  
LC; Because your a beautiful girl.  
Naruto;...okay?  
Sasuke; she's right, your girl self is cute.  
LC; why thank you!  
Sasuke; however, for making me say cute in japanese, you must die.  
LC;Killing me is a waste of effort, I am the authoress, I can come back to life! And killing me will make me kill you in the story! I'll just make Naru-chan cry over your dead and unrecognizable figure.  
Sasuke; the crying over me part, I wouldn't mind, but killing me...I have to kill my brother first.  
LC; your brother is one of my fav characters, so he must LIVE!  
*Sasuke goes off to pout in the corner*  
LC; Review review! Or no new chappie for you!


	5. Chapter 5

LC; NARU-CHAN! You can run but you can't hide!  
*Naruto is hiding in the dirty clothes hamper in her bathroom, desperatly hoping she won't find him*  
LC,*Opens hamper*; Found u!  
Naruto; I don't want to! Don't make me!  
LC; You must! I am the authoress and I will for it to happen! As such, it _will_ happen!  
*Sasuke meanwhile is tied to train tracks, thinking over all that he'd accopmplished in his twelve year long life.*; I never killed Itachi!  
LC; Percisely, u must die before u kill him! ITACHI-SAMA 4 ever!  
Naruto; Y am I here?  
LC; I needed someone to take a picture for me.

Disclaimer; me no own Naru-chan! Those assassins I hired haven't done their job yet.

Chappie 5, Foxes for a vixen.

Between training with Kyu, Kakashi, and strangely, Gai, Naru hardly had a free moment anymore, and it was beginning to show.  
"I need to prank someone, before I go crazy!" She muttered darkly. Her only real problem, was finding a target.

In a whirl of leaves and tights, Maito Gai appeared in front of his pupil. "Ah, Naru-chan! Your flames of Youth shine like the Sun! I came because I believe your ready for this!"  
Somehow, he mistook her absolute look of pure terror as he pulled out, not a green piece of spandex, but an orange one!  
It took every ounce of courage to not turn and run with every bit of her speed training Gai had given her.

"Naru-chan, your progress has made me believe you will only blossom even faster when wearing this brand new, and personalized spandex! Your flames of Youth shall soar to the Heavens!" He declared, waving the orange cloth that would no doubt fill her nightmares in the air.  
Thankfully, Lee appeared and began the whole, 'Gai-sensei!' 'Lee!', ritual that always distracted Gai. Naru made her escape, and swore to herself she would never be seen in spandex. On pain of death.

Taking refuge in Ichiraku's ramen shack, she ate a seemingly impossible amount of ramen, until she was found by her teammates.  
"Naru, we've been looking all over for you!" Sakura cried upon seeing the orange jacketed girl. **"Kit, I got a bad feeling about this."** Kyu observed from behind her eyes.  
Personally, she agreed whole heartedly with the thousand year old fox.  
"Come on, we're taking you shopping!" Sakura cried, grabbing Naru's arm before she could bolt.  
**"I knew it!"** Kyu screamed in horror, there was no way he wanted to watch a bunch of females shop for clothes, even while inside of one of them.

"Wait a minute, why do I have to go?" Naru demanded, desperatly holding onto the counter. She hated shopping with a vengance, a deep one.  
Not mentioning the fact most shop owners hated her, and if they let her in at all, the items were over priced.  
"You can't wear that jacket and be a ninja." Sasuke pointed it out broodingly. "If it's about those seals, you can always seal new ones on your new clothes."  
Just when it seemed they were going to drag her all the way to the nearest mall, Naru pulled out a smoke bomb.

"You'll never catch me!" She yelled to the Heavens as she ran under cover of thick white smoke.  
When the smoke cleared, both Sasuke and Sakura knew they had their work cut out for them. I mean, they were trying to capture a girl who at seven could hide from ANBU for three days.  
She was thirteen now.  
It was going to be a long day.

An hour later, and no matter how many people they asked or where they looked, their blonde teammate was nowhere to be found.  
"Geez, I still don't understand why she hid her true strength! She'd be an awesome ninja!" Sakura ranted, but then thought of something, berating herself for not thinking of it sooner, she turned to Sasuke.  
"Hey, we might be able to find her, but we'll need help." She said, thinking of her plan. "We'll have to call on the Sasuke Uchiha fan club to find her."  
Sasuke was really beginning to hate his day.

Sasuke's POV

They even have their own club house. Kami help me, I'm about to walk into the demon's nest! I'm too young to die! Or get raped!  
Inside, were pretty much every girl within three years of thirteen, excluding the rare few that did not love me desperatly. I was too afraid to know their exact number, but there was over a hundred, of that I am sure.  
"Everyone! Listen up!" Sakura yelled like a seargent. "Sasuke-kun needs our help! Our teammate, Naru Uzumaki always wear a horrible neon orange jacket! For a ninja, wearing such colors is deadly! We need to help capture Naru so that we can take her shopping for new clothes! This is for Sasuke-kun!"

"HAI, Sakura-sama!" The girls saluted, scratch seargent, she was a general! They all vanished, even though I'm certain they couldn't all be kunoichis.  
Could they? Man that was a scary though. What if they ganged up to gang rape me?  
Note to self, lock all doors and windows, for eternity or longer.

Normal POV...YAY! I'm bored! So writing's fun right now!

**"Kit, I think it's time to pay the old den a visit."** Kyu suggested.** "I know how you feel about shopping, and really, I could not agree more. We must not let them find you. At all costs!"  
**almost to himself, the fox added.** "Besides, that shade of orange is perfect. I mean, if you can hide in neon orange, you can hide in anything."**  
Vowing to herself that she would save her beloved and only jacket, she ran for the forest at speeds most jounin could only wish to ever posses.  
(Naru is just awesome like that, girls can do anything!)

Now, she was hiding in what she and Kyu called, the Old Den. It was really a giant cave hidden under an old tree in the forest.  
The entrance tunnel was really small, but since she was unnaturally skinny without her jacket, she could squeeze through, though she wondered what would happen when she grew up.  
"Kyu, remind me not to ignore gut feelings." She muttered, lying down on the emergency futon. "It always bites me in the ass."

Sakura's POV

Damn it all! The Sasuke Uchiha fan club was renowned for it's ability to track someone through a sand storm while it's raining and snowing!  
Why was it, that after almost three hours searching, Naru had yet to be found? She had been named general of the fangirls after successfully getting a picture of her with Sasuke before anyone else, so it wasn't just the club's pride at stake, it was mine!

"Where can she hide?" I ranted out loud, I was close to letting my alternate out to join the search, but since that's dangerous and had the possibility of my alternate raping Sasuke-kun, I kept her in check.  
Alright, I didn't want to do this, but Naru, you've left me no choice!  
It was time to call in the Leaf genin to aid in the search!

Normal POV

Sakura and Sasuke split up to find as many of the genin as possible. In the end, they got most of them to help. Except for Neji and Tenten, mainly due to the fact Neji and Tenten had been in Neji's room making slightly disturbing noises.  
In the end, Hinata located her with her byakugan.  
Shikamaru revealed the den was somewhat of a mystery among his clan, even though they owned that piece of land. None of them had been able to get in to find out what had once lived in it.  
Apparently, Naru was small enough to fit down there, and according to Hinata, could live in it too.

When they got to the den, they debated on how best to get the young blonde out without destroying the habitat. Eventually, Hinata had to crawl in, without her jacket.  
Just as she was dissappearing into the depths of the earth, Shikamaru spoke up. "Kiba, stop staring at Hinata's butt."

Of course, the blonde girl knew her suppossed friends/traitors were up above her. 'Kyu, I can only see one way out of this.' She thought solemnly.  
Within the deep recesses of her mind, the fox nodded his agreement. He really did not want to watch his student and heir go shopping.  
If she really needed new clothes, then she could summon some servants to do it for her, they'd be happy to get some stuff under a henge.  
But noooo, these bothersome humans wanted to drag her shopping for something that had taken his poor kit ten years to finally complete! They wanted to ruin his kit's work!  
Besides, orange was a perfectly acceptable color for a young fox princess.

Finally, Hinata made her way into the actually roomy main hall of the den. In it was Naru's emergency futon, some food and water, and even some emergency clothes should she ever need some.  
It even had several candles and scrolls and things to read if she had to stay here for a suspended period of time. Hinata had to admit, if she had known about this place, she might have come here to hide from her abusive father.

Naru pretended to be asleep on the futon, hugging her jacket close to her chest, so it couldn't be prized away. Turns out, underneath the bulky jacket, she was actually very, very, very skinny. Hinata could count out her ribs!  
She immediatly felt bad about taking the jacket away. From the way Naru hugged it, it was obviously something precious to her. She didn't want to upset her only really close female friend, but it had to be done.  
"Naru, wake up." She urged, shaking the blonde's shoulder. "Come on, you can't stay here." Well, she probably could, but not forever.  
"No." Naru said stubbornly, hugging the jacket closer. "I won't ever give my jacket up!"  
Eventually, Hinata used rope to tie her up so they could drag her out.

However, she tied her up so the jacket was tied with her. So when they untied her, she just kept hugging the jacket to her chest. It turned into a tug of war between all the genin and Naru, the prize was the jacket.

Everyone was amazed at Naru's strength, (she had used a bit of Kyu's chakra.) but everyone was even more surprised when the jacket gave way with an almighty RIIIIPPP!  
When they got up, they saw Naru, looking like she was about to start crying. Now they were confused, the loud mouthed, idiotis, prank and ramen loving girl, was about to cry over a ripped in half jacket?  
"You guys, had no idea how important my jacket was to me." She said in a wavering voice. "It's all I have from my mother, and now, it's..."  
She couldn't bring herself to say anymore, she just stood and snatched the other half out of Kiba's startled hands and ran with all her might for her apartment, her last safe haven.

Once she locked the door and drew the blinds down, she allowed herself to cry over her mother's jacket. "**Kit, I'm sorry. I didn't expect it to rip."  
**Kyubi's effort to comfort his student failed, miserably.  
"They didn't have to go that far!" Naru protested, lying out the halves on her bed, looking to see if it was repareable. Luckily for the genin who were making their way from the academy, (having had to ask Iruka where Naru lived) to Naru's apartment, it was.  
She had just gotten started when she heard knocking on her door. After a brief debate on opening it, the door began to bend under the force of the famous Uchiha death glare! (or it could've been Sasuke's fists breaking the poor defenseless door to splinters)  
"Naru, we know your in there!" Shikamaru called lazily, wishing he hadn't been so troublesome to the poor blonde. He hadn't meant to make her almost cry. Having known her the most and for longest, he knew how often the blonde cried.  
Almost never.  
And now, because he had helped to chase her down, he had probably upped that number to one. Today was such a huge drag.

The door flew off it's hinges as a transformed Akamaru and Kiba added their bit of power. The apartment was cleaner than they had expected, they thought for sure it should've had ramen cups littering the floor.  
Instead, they found said ramen cups overflowing in the garbage can in the kitchen. Sasuke began knocking on Naru's bedroom door, but still she didn't answer.  
"Loser, answer us all ready!" Guess who yelled. He'd mostly stopped calling her that, but she was pissing him off now. He'd had to face a literal army of fangirls to find her and damn it if he was going to let that be in vain!

After knocking that door down as well, they were surprised to find Naru calmly trying to sew her jacket back together again on her bed. A now guilty Sasuke noticed dried tear marks on her face, and her eyes were red.  
"I'm not getting rid of it, so you can all leave now." Naru said calmly, but she pricked her finger with the needle, revealing her very peevedness.

Shikamaru knew he had to speak up, so he stepped forward, even if it was going to be very troublesome and be such a drag later on. "Naru, we're all sorry for ripping your jacket." He began. "None of us knew your mother had left you anything, much less a neon orange jacket. We're not here to make you throw it out. We shouldn't have butted in without first asking _why _you would wear it."  
She blinked, she just couldn't help it, she honestly had not expected an apology.

"It's fine." She said uncomfortably, come to think of it she'd said a lot of uncomfortable things now. "It's not just because it was my mother's though. I've been working on it for some years now, it has lots of sewn in sealing scrolls that I carry things important to me in.  
(Like her scrap book for instance, and her camera) I also sewn in wieghts, which is why it lasted for ten years, because I used strong thread and fabric to repair it and make it functional again."

After promising they'd chip in to get her doors fixed, the genin left, all except her teammates. Naru was still sewing on her bed, Sakura was being nosy and looking through her closet.  
Sakura was honestly amazed at how small the sizes were for the clothes. But then again, when she looked closely at Naru, she could count ribs, from across the room, so that's bad.  
"Naru, why are you so thin?" She asked after a while. "I mean, I can count your ribs."  
"I guess, I do sometimes forget to eat." Naru answered, blushing slightly. "I train really hard, and I get so caught up, I usually forget to eat and sleep. I just keep going until I pass out. Shikamaru sometimes had to carry me home. He'd watch me train sometimes." (cough, everytime, cough)

Sasuke meanwhile, was inspecting Naru's rather large personal library. How she had gotten some of these scrolls, was beyond him. Come on, Advanced Sealing? How did she have time to read these? Let alone devote herself to them enough to become a master?  
"Sasuke, if you see something your interested in, go ahead and help yourself." Naru spoke up, tired of him scowling at her bookshelf. (And slightly afraid all her precious books and scrolls would turn to dust under his glare.)

He jumped a little, but then pulled out a scroll of fire jutsus to see if he already knew them. To his immense surprise, he did not. "Where'd you get these?" He asked cautiously.  
"Oh, well, some of them are clan techniques, so I can't let you read them all, but most of them I got from Old Man Hokage as gifts." She admitted, not wanting to lie to her team, wanting to trust someone. "The ones on the right are clan jutsu's the ones on the left, be my guest and read them if you want."  
He nodded his understanding and was slightly pleased to find he had taken the fire jutsu scroll from the left side, so it was fair game.

/Liny breaky\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

LC; YAY, I bring this alive, it's chapter five!  
Naruto; AWWWW, why do I have to share my awesome scrolls with that teme?  
Sasuke; Quiet slave, or no sex for you tonight.  
Naruto; One track mind, seriously.  
LC; oooohhh, Sasuke's horny! My mind is rushing for naughty ideas for pure and innocent Naru-chan!  
Naruto; Wait, naughty?  
Sasuke, *smirks, thinking of naughty naughty things to do to blonde boy/girl*  
LC; Yay for new ideas! Now for a preview of my next chapter! An idea given to me by a reviewer called raw666, Naru's taking Kunoichi seduction classes cause she is all that! What will happen with the orange wearing tomboy? Only I know, not even raw666 knows. YET!  
Review or I shall no maky new chappie!  
Aw hell, I'll make the new chappie anyways, just review!


	6. Chapter 6

LC; Pick up your sticks, it's chapter six!  
Naruto; quick question, why does an awesome ninja like me need seduction classes?  
LC; Because your a tomboy is why!  
Naruto; You wrote me like that!  
LC; I know, cause I'm a tomboy too. But think of a feminine Naru, what do you think?  
Naruto;*Imagines it*...  
LC; well? What do you see?  
*Naruto shoots out the five hundred story building from the force of a nosebleed to rival all others*  
LC; SEE! Feminine Naru-chan shall be awesome!

Chapter 6, a Kunoichi's rage, is very scary.

Kami, I feel like crap! Scratch that, I feel like Kyubi's crap! These were Naru-chan's first thoughts upon waking up the next morning.  
Why on Earth, had it had to be today that she felt like this? She needed to be at a hundred percent to run away when they came to drag her away for Kunoichi classes!  
Oh wait, maybe that's why Kami made her feel like this, he wants her to go. Kami must be a pervert, just great.

"NARU!" Oh no, that was undoubtably Sakura and Ino in sync. Oh dear Kami, why?  
She sat up, and realized the reason she felt bad was a feeling of foreboding, not illness as she'd hoped.  
The door burst open, not surprising since she hadn't been able to fix it yet and had just set it up against the frame last night before bed.  
"Come on, we'll be late for Kunoichi seduction classes!" Sakura cried, pulling a whining Naru behind her to the bathroom to force her out of her orange pajamas and into her normal clothes.

Damn it all, she did not want to go! Obviously, they would not let her wear her jacket, which meant the mean kunoichi teacher might try to take it from her!  
Key word there, might.  
Kyu personally, was trying to think of ways to distract himself when the classes began. He didn't want to die of boredom. That was not the way he wanted to go, if at all.  
Damn, and what was worse, they had tied Naru head and foot so she couldn't run away.  
She was in a bad angle to unseal a kunai to cut through the ropes, but be damned if she wasn't going to try like her life depended on it!

Upon reaching the academy where the classes were being held, a crazy, sadistic, and vaugely snake like lady greeted everyone.  
"Hiya, brats!" She called out. "I'm Anko Mitarashi! And I'll be your seduction training teacher! Now, can I get a volunteer?"  
At this time, she noticed a squirming brown worm with blonde hair. She grinned sadisticly and ran to the girl, then dragged her to the front of the audtiorium.  
"Alright brat, tell me your name!" She said, taking off the gag placed there by an annoyed and slightly hung over Tenten. (what _had_ she been doing with Neji last night? ;)

"I'm Naru Uzumaki and I'm not supposed to be here! There is no way in Hell that I'm taking stupid seduction classes! NO WAY I'M GOING TO BE FORCED TO DO ALL THAT CRUD JUST FOR INFORMATION I COULD GET WITH TORTURE! NO, NO, NO, NO!" She had to pause for a breath or risk passing out from lack of air.  
Anko was actually impressed she could say all that right after the gag had been removed. She was also considering slapping the thing back on before the brat could start up again.

"Alright brats!" Anko yelled, getting everyone's attention off the blonde girl. Who at that moment was trying to sneak off the stage, until Anko grabbed the back of her jacket.  
"Now, can any girl here tell me why clothes like these are bad for kunoichi?" She asked, half serious, half sadistic, as usual.  
"Her clothes are too baggy and don't show off her curves enough." Piped up one brunette.  
"Correct! Now, why don't we fix that?" God, she'd lost the serious and was wholefully a sadist once more.

"NEVER!" Dear Kami, Anko knew she wouldn't be able to hear anything for the next few moments. "I wear whatever the Hell I feel like! This jacket is mine and shall remain mine till the end of time!"  
Somehow, Anko just knew she had her work cut out for her to turn this tomboy into a beautiful kunoichi. But Kami help her, there was no way her spotless record in teaching kunoichis was going to be marred by one blonde girl!  
With fire in her eyes, she turned to her new pupil/torture subject.

"Relax, you can still keep the jacket, but we gotta make some changes to make it more suitable." Anko said, as soothingly as possible, which was making her sick.  
"Suitable?" Naru repeated nervously. She wanted to run, Kyu was urging her to do so as well, but she never ran before (_cough_ liar_ cough_) she wan't going to start now.  
"What do you mean, suitable?" She asked cautiously, ready to defend her family heirloom.

Three hours and a near nervous breakdown curtesy of Anko later!

Anko had done all the other girls first to get them out of the way, but now, she had to admit, once explaining the advantages of kunoichi seduction, Naru had been an eager student.  
But what had nearly had her on the floor crying, was how innocent the girl actually was! She didn't even know what went on during sex! How did any thirteen year old girl not know this?  
She also did not know why girls bled once a month, but that was easier to do than giving the talk.

But it had been worth it, because behind that red curtain, was her master piece! The best work she'd ever done!  
It was almost enough to make her shed a tear. It was so good, she had assembled numerous boys and known perverts to test it out and get positive feed back.  
Turned out Naru was about as confident with her looks as her genjutsu, translation, not at all.  
So now, standing in front of the stage, was Jaraiya, Kakashi, Old Man Hokage, Sasuke, Kiba, Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Lee.  
All the boys she could find on short notice were there and waiting to see what had become of the blonde supposed dead last.

The curtain was raised, and it was almost as if the whole room lit up when the young kunoichi came into view.  
Her blonde hair had been brushed to perfection, revealing it reached her waist if she would ever have the time to properly care for it. She held it in a single pony tail, rather than the kiddish pig tails. Her orange jacket had been transformed into an open short, jean jacket without any fur lining, it was now tight fitting and showed off her well developed curves.  
Instead of a black tank top, she now wore a loose small sized black shirt, just visible around the edges was some netting.  
She now wore, where before there was regular ninja's pants, there was now adorable biker shorts ending around midthigh. She wore thigh socks, and her feet wore kunoichi sandals, or ninja heels as some referred them.

But clearly, the most drastic change was in her facial features. Where before she always had a big grin and determinned eyes, filled with resolution, she now had...  
Beautifully soft features, her cheeks tinged pink with blush. Her eyelashes were curved upward ever so gently, and framed dazzling blue eyes that could only be described as bedroom eyes.  
Even her smile had changed, from goofy, to absolutely foxy. No man could ever withstand this new Naru 2.0!

"I now present, _the_ Naru Uzumaki!" Anko said extragavently. Turning back to the men, she saw quite the shocking sight.  
Jaraiya looked to be about three seconds from removing his pants, this emphasized by the bulge just showing. Kakashi's mask was now blood stained, and he had dropped the ICHA ICHA he'd been reading for favor of this beautiful maiden before him.  
Sarutobi, his jaw had fallen to the floor and his nose was running like a water faucet. Sasuke, he had used pure will power to stop his nose bleed, but the evidence was all over his shirt.  
Kiba was drooling a waterfall to rival Niagra falls, although this one would most likely be named Viagra falls. Neji's eye was twitching but he was doing his best to keep up his, I'm-so-much-better-than-you-so-I-can't-think-your-hot, act, and failing miserably as his gaze lingered on her chest and he contemplated using his byakugan to see what was underneath.  
Chouji had stopped eating and dropped his bag of chips, choosing to gape at his former tomboy friend instead of stuffing himself. Shikamaru, well he was brain dead.  
Lee was going on about how Naru had bloomed into a beautiful Youthful Flower, you could hear the capital letters.

All in all, Naru was surprised by how much blood one man could lose when subjected to a girl in flashy clothes, and her clothes didn't even reveal that much! They must all be super perverts! (Of course with Jaraiya, this is stating the obvious)

She admitted, she did not like the make up, or the shorts, or the sandals, or the pony tail for that matter. In fact, she was basically unhappy with everything but her jacket.  
It was now a lot less bulky but the pockets and seals painstakingly sewn in hadn't been damaged. Best of all, it was still neon orange!

And what was more, today was just day one of seduction classes. Just wait world, your about to meet the foxy Naru Uzumaki.  
Only pandemonium could ensue.

The course was three weeks, by then, Naru now knew many moves that could be performed to distract any men in the vicinity.  
Her personal favorite being, the puppy eyes, woman style. While every kid knows the kid style from birth, this one was an actual jutsu.  
It was a genjutsu anyone could use because percise chakra control was not needed. It's official name was, the Puppy Eyes no Jutsu.  
Creating an almost invincible cute look that would have any man telling you their deepest darkest secrets.

/I is Line, this is my domain!\\\\\\\\\\\\\

LC; OMG Naru is a vixen! They grow up so fast! *Cries tears of joy*  
Naruto; At least you don't have me in a skirt, I was worried for a minute there.  
LC; I was going to, but...I was worried Jaraiya would attempt to rape you.  
Jaraiya; I would never rape my student!  
LC; She's not your student yet.  
Jaraiya;...Then she's up for grabs! *Runs after Naru and drags her away.*  
LC; I think I just offered to pay for Naru's therapy. Ah well! Review, or no new chappie for me to do! And then I shall cry boo hoo!  
Sasuke; Next time, on A Kunoichi's Tail, Naru meets her true love? Wait a sec, LC who is it?  
LC; No sneak previews! You shall know when you see chapter seven! Naru's Heaven!


	7. Chapter 7

LC; Last chappie was short, but I couldn't think of anything to add.  
Naruto; Don't waorry, I'm sure the viewers won't mind.  
LC; NO! It is a bad thing for my master piece to be imperfect! This chappie must be super long!  
Sasuke; Is she whining about chapter lengths again?  
Naruto; Yup. She's a real perfectionist.  
LC; I heard that! You should not say stuff like that! This chappie will be very special!  
Naruto and Sasuke; Ok? *Exchange looks*  
Disclaimer; As of yet me no owny anything. If I did, Naruto would be a girl and Sasuke would not run away to a pedophile who's compensating with snakes.

Chappie 7, Naru's Hectic life?

With Kunoichi classes, training with both of her senseis, and trying to keep up with her social life, Naru was being run into the ground.  
From dawn till long after the Sun set once more, she was running from side to side of the village, trying to get everything done. Now, she was just waking up and beginning her morning ritual.  
She brushed her hair until it reached her waist and hung like silk, then tied it up in two pig tails, preferring them to a pony tail. She skipped the make up, got dressed in ninja pants, them being more comfortable. Then after a quick breakfast, she was running out the door to meet her team.

But when she was slamming the door shut and turned to lock it, she saw a flower taped to it. She recognized it as a dragon lily, her favorite flower.  
She took it off and opened the note accompanying it. It read...  
Dear Naru,  
I've watched you from afar for long enough, I want to ask, would you meet me at training grounds thirteen, so we could talk?  
Your secret admirer.

**"AAAWWW!"** Kyu crooned sickeningly. **"Someone has a crush on 'ikle Naru-chan! How cute!"** Naru herself was too stunned to answer.  
She stood staring at the note for so long, Kyu began to grow worried. **"Um? Kit?"** He said tentatively. **"Are you okay?"**  
"I'm fine." Naru answered absently, still looking at the love note. "Just wondering who it is."  
She stuck the flower behind one ear and the note in one of her jacket's pockets, then proceded to training ground seven to meet her team.

She had taken so long, Kakashi was actually there before her. "Naru, any reason you were so late?" He asked curiously.  
"Oh," She blushed, she couldn't help it! "uh, I got held up."  
He raised one brow, though how she knew he did it, she didn't know considering she couldn't see any eyebrows on him.

"And the flower?" He asked. She fingered the lily uncomfortably, trying to think of a suitable answer.  
"I picked it up somewhere on the way here." She lied sheepishly, the blush beginning to spread. "Okay, well then, I have some good news." Kakashi announced. "You've all been accepted into the chunin exams! Just fill out these forms and show up at the stadium in the morning!"  
After each of them held a paper, he dismissed himself to go and reread his porn some more.

Naru had just turned in the form, and was on her way to training grounds thirteen, when she heard her friend Konohamaru's cry.  
She ran into the side street and saw two sand nin, one of them, the boy, was holding Konohamaru by the scruff of his neck.  
"I'll teach you to watch where your going!" The boy growled, reaching for his puppet.  
Not waiting to see what the mummy thing on his back was, Naru leapt into action. She moved at a blinding speed and stopped just behind the boy, and grabbed his hand.

He froze, unsure as to who it was who now held his hand from his puppet. After working up the courage, he turned his head just slightly.  
He saw a beautiful blonde haired blue eyed girl, but this girl gave off plenty of KI, and she seemed to remind him of someone. That is when it hit him, this girl, reminded him of Gaara.

"Who are you?" He sneered, hoping his voice was stronger than it sounded. "That's not important right now." Naru answered coldly. "Your not very smart are you? Do you know who your holding so disrespectfully?"  
Ok, now he was beyond confused, who was he holding? "Your holding the third Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru, academy student of the village hidden in the Leaves." She continued just as monotonely.

Oh crap, that was who's brat he was holding in a chokehold? He chuckled nervously and set the stunned boy on the ground. "Sorry, for causing any trouble, miss?" He tried to apologize.  
He needed to play it cool, she was clearly stronger than she looked, and scarier.  
"Konohamaru, are you hurt?" She asked the little kid.  
"I'm fine, Naru!" He assured her. "Hey Boss, are you gonna beat that guy up?"  
"Not this time, no." She told him, slightly lessening her grip. "On the other hand, I was just on my way to meet someone, and now I'm late."  
Holy crap, Kankuro was scared.

She stared coldly at Kankuro, who struggled to look her in the eyes, which were now sharp as ice. "I'll warn you once, mess with the people of the Leaf, and you mess with me."  
She let him go and started to walk away, but before going back the way she came, she paused as she felt a presence.  
Something seemed off about the boy in the tree to her right, his aura wasn't human.  
He appeared by her side in a whirlwind of sand. "What's your name?"  
"Naru Uzumaki. Yours?" She replied calmly, not even hinting at interest.  
"Gaara of the Sand." He left it at that and walked over to his teammates.  
Naru smirked in spite of herself. The chunin exams just got interesting.

Naru began to make her way to training ground thirteen, and on the way, she thought about who it could be waiting for her.  
Secretly, she hoped it was Kiba, she'd always admired him and she liked Akamaru too. If it was Kiba, she could try to make a relationship work. It was always worth a shot.

When she reached the training grounds, she was surprised to find it empty. "Hello?" She called uncertainly.  
In the middle of the grounds, there was a small rock and a note.

Dear Naru,  
Try and figure out who left the note!  
Signed,  
A. pal

A. pal? 'Kyu, do you know who A. pal could be?' She mentally asked her sensei. **"Hey, Kit, did you notice the period after A?"** Kyu asked, vauegly curious as to who wished to mate his student. Of course, he knew with humans the first crush hardly ever turned out to be your mate, but the boy clearly wished that. **"Hey Kit, take a look at the rock, maybe it holds a clue."** He suggested.

Picking up the stone, Naru found it had a small dog print engraved on the bottom. "A dog print?" She asked aloud. 'Kyu, do I know anyone with a name starting with A?'  
**"No, but you know a dog."** He answered quickly, suspecting who the secret admirer was.

"Akamaru." She replied. "Akamaru, belongs to Kiba. Could Kiba have left this note?"  
There was only one way to find out, and that was to ask him personally.

Once she reached the Inuzuka compound, she began wondering if going inside was a good idea. She didn't know if the Inuzuka's would let her in, or it Kiba was even there, but she had to try.  
Hoping for the best, she knocked on the front door.

"Coming!" Called the brisk voice of the Inuzuka's head, Tsume. She opened the door, but seemed surprised when she saw Naru on the door step. "What do you want, pup?"  
"Um, is Kiba here?" Naru asked anxiously. "I wanted to ask him something."  
Tsume sniffed the air before answering, like she was memorizing Naru's scent. Then she turned back down the hall and bellowed.  
"KIBA! Some girl is here for you! Get out here and talk to the pup!" she shouted.  
"I'm coming!" That was Kiba's voice, he was heading that way.

"Um, mom?" He asked tentatively when he saw Naru. "Could me and Naru talk in private?"  
She grinned but left after that. "Kiba, does this look familiar?" Naru showed him the stone, just in case he wasn't the one who sent it.  
"Guess you figured it out." He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Akamaru put in his two cents, confused as to why his master and his master's crush were both as red as tomatoes.

"So, how do you feel about this?" Kiba asked finally, after a very long and uncomfortable pause. "Well, truth be told?" he nodded his affirmation. "I've always sorta admired you." Naru mumbled, twiddling her fingers like Hinata sometimes did.  
"Your really strong, your also nice, and loyal to your friends. Your someone I can relate to, just a bit." She stopped there, unsure if she should go on.

"Would you like to go out for a bite to eat?" Kiba asked, his face was calm, but his voice wavered ever so slightly.  
"Sure." She nodded and gave a small, genuine smile.  
They left the compound, and headed to a barbeque resturaunt. "Sorry it's not ramen, but I'd like to have some money after this, if you don't mind?" He said nervously, giving a half chuckle.  
"It's cool." She assured him. "Even I can't eat ramen everyday at that rate."  
They sat down to their meal and talked, not about anything in particular.

Kyubi's POV

**'AAAWWW, my little Kit's growing up!'** I crooned to myself. To be honest, I did approve of Kiba. He had animalistic qualities that made it easier to understand him.  
He also treated Naru very kindly, but still made her laugh, made her happy. **'Aw great!'** I'd just realized something. **'Now she's discovered the joys of the opposite sex, she'll never want to pay attention to training! She'll want to talk about flowers and chocolates and Kiba! Dear Kami, let Naru be the exception that proves the rule!'**

Normal POV

While Kyubi prayed that his heiress wouldn't forget about her training, Kiba and Naru got to know each other on a higher level. (no, I don't mean sex! Get your minds out of the gutter!)  
"So tell me, do you really hold back all the time?" Kiba asked suspiciously.  
"Well, I'm stronger than I look, that's true." Naru admitted shyly.  
"So, how strong are you, really?" He continued after swallowing a piece of meat and tossing another to Akamaru.  
"Somewhere around high chunin tentative jounin." She whispered in his ear. "But please, don't reveal that. They'll only ask questions like, who trained me."

At first, she had expected him to not promise. Expected him to go off and tell everyone that Naru was actually much stronger and smarter than they gave her credit for.  
That she was actually much closer to being hokage than they all knew, or probably ever would.  
But he surprised her by giving her his word. He wouldn't reveal her secret unless she said it was alright. Knowing him, he would sooner die, than break his word.

He was simply that loyal.

Kiba decided to walk her home after seeing several village men eye her coldly. For that, she was greatful. They would never attack her when she was with a clan heir.  
One of the perks of being the official secret girlfriend of Kiba Inuzuka.

They had agreed to keeping their relationship a secret to avoid any hassle with their friends. When they were both ready, they would reveal their feelings.  
But that of course, was a long way off. Kiba knew Naru still had so many secrets. He knew he hadn't even scratched the surface.  
But he could be patient, for her. He could wait until she was sure of his trustworthiness.  
He could wait until she was able to trust him enough.  
He was a patient man when it came to Naru. After all, he had waited this long.

How much longer could it take?

"Kiba, thanks for walking me home tonight." Naru said when they reached her apartment. "I had a great time!"  
He grinned and Akamaru barked a couple times. Most likely in an attempt to say what Kiba could not. "I had a great time too!" Kiba assured her.  
"Good night." She said, backing into her door way. "Same time tommorrow?"  
"You bet!" Kiba said, turning back to the stairs they'd come up. "I'll come by and pick you up!"  
She nodded and closed the door.

After getting some clean clothes, she hopped in the shower to wash away the day's grime.  
After dressing in her yukata, she looked herself over in the mirror.  
She knew many would describe her face as pretty, but she didn't see herself like that. She saw strength, confidence, faith, and hurt, but she couldn't see the beauty in her gaze.  
To her, she was ordinary.

"I don't know what he sees in me, but I'm glad he does." She finally decided.  
Lying down on her bed, she thought again of all that had transpired during the day. Yes, this had been a very good day.  
She could only wonder now, just what tommorrow would bring.

/Line\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

LC; YAY! I finally decided, it's KibaNaru! YAY for dog boy!  
Kiba; Sweet, I get the hottie!  
Naru; Hottie?  
Kiba; Uh, I mean, the smart, beautiful, and strong girl!  
Naru; That's better!  
Sasuke; What will happen next chapter?  
LC; Yes, it's sneak preview time! Next time, on a Kunoichi's tail, Naru and her team begin in the chunin exams! What craziness, crack, love, and hate could possibly await them? Oh wait, I know, ALL OF THE ABOVE! Tune in for chapter 8! Review review, for chappie brand new!


	8. Chapter 8

LC; Here's the bait, chapter 8!  
Naruto; Man, most people only update like once a month, you do it every other day!  
LC; Yeah well, once I get an idea in my head, I can't concentrate on anything else!  
Sasuke; So basically, if you don't do this, you can't do your homework?  
LC; Percisely! You hit the nail on the head!  
Naruto; So what can we expect for this chapter?  
LC; A whole mish mash of awesomeness mixed with a hint of cool!  
Naruto; So basically, your feeling very violent today?  
Sasuke; Looks like it's that time of the month again. *Wants to be killed*  
LC; I'LL TEACH YOU! *Hurls computer at Sasuke* YOU SHOULD NEVER MAKE FUN OF A GIRL'S CURSE! LIFE LESSON NUMBER ONE!  
Disclaimer; If I owned Naruto, would I really be here? NO! I would be rewriting every episode!

Chapter 8, The chunin exams begin!

The alarm clock buzzed, waking one very angry blonde from her slumber. "Damnit! Why does something wake me up everytime I get such a good night's sleep!" She demanded, knocking the alarm off the sidetable in her anger.  
She got up and went to the bathroom to begin her morning ritual.  
Today, she was determinned not to be late. Because today was the start of the chunin exams! And damn it all if she wasn't going to pass!

Today, she needed to be on the top of her game. When she got out of the shower, she stared at herself in the mirror. "Today, we are going to pass with flying colors anything they throw at us." She pledged.  
Hearing someone knock on her door, she threw on some clothes, having previously only been wearing a towel.  
She opened the door to see Sakura and Sasuke waiting for her. "Are you ready yet?" Sasuke asked tiredly. He hadn't wanted to be awakened by his alarm clock this morning.

"I'll be ready in two minutes." Naru answered, running back inside to put up her hair and grab her jacket and supplies.  
They ran to the testing facility, Naru tying up her hair in two pig tails along the way.  
At the door, they stopped to catch their breath. "Alright, from here on out, we trust only ourselves!" Naru told them. "It's all or nothing!"  
They all agreed, then walked into the building, the next chapter of their lives had just begun.

Upon reaching the second floor, Naru felt a genjutsu wash over them. Glancing around, she saw the second floor sign had changed to say third floor.  
She stopped her teammates from walking over to the end of the hall where a bunch of kids were argueing with two genin, trying to get into the examination room. "It's a genjutsu." She whispered to them. "Most likely to weed out the weaklings."  
Sakura nodded and Sasuke raised a brow. "I thought you couldn't sense genjutsu. How do you know?"  
"Once again, I'm afraid I lied about my skill." Naru admitted slyly.  
After releasing the genjutsu, they saw another team that had done the same thing a moment prior.

One was wearing a horrid green spandex suit, one that would haunt Naru in her nightmares for weeks on end. The other had eyes the color of milk, and had long girly hair, though he looked to be a boy.  
The girl member had brown hair held in two buns and seemed to be trying to calm her teammates down.  
They were apparently fighting over wether or not one could change their fate, or something.

"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Naru asked, unsure if this was real or a double genjutsu. "If your seeing a boy in spandex, a boy in need of a hair cut, and a chinese girl, then yeah, I am." Sakura said, staring at the green suit.  
"I was afraid of that." Naru said, forcing her eyes away from the spandex and forcing herself to stare at her hands.  
Suddenly, spandex boy looked their way. Or more percisely, at Sakura.  
"OOOHHH! Sakura-chan!" He bellowed. "Your flamed of Youth have Burned into a beautiful and strong kunoichi! Your Flames burn so Brightly, I must ask you for a date!"  
Sakura looked horrified at the idea, understandable, seeing who she was dealing with.

Naru had met Gai, but she had never met his team. Or for that matter, his mini me. (Austin powers!) "Any reason Gai has a clone?" She asked the universe.  
"OOOHH, You know Gai-sensei, young Flaming Flower!" It was a question and a shout, she couldn't differentiate between the two at this point.  
"Lee, we have to go." Said girly man, or Milky Eyes, or maybe stuck up Priss would suit him better.  
The afore named Lee, turned around back to his teammate, who seemed to have regained his poser and was as stoic as Sasuke, maybe more so, since Sasuke had cooled down a bit.

Naru, Sakura, and Sasuke followed them to the real examination room. Inside, there were dozens of genin teams, hoping to become chunin.  
The other rookies saw them enter and swarmed around them. "Hi Sasuke-kun!" Ino attached herself to poor Sasuke's arm.  
"Get off of Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!" Sakura roared.  
Damn, Naru had almost forgotten how ear bleeding that voice could be when she screamed. She hadn't screamed like that in a little while.  
In the confusion, a white haired, glasses wearing boy had wandered over to the rookie group. "I'd settle down if I were you." He advised. "Most of the teams here have been here before and they don't take kindly to rookies."  
"Hey Kabuto." Naru greeted the boy. She had met him about a year ago, right before the genin exams.  
"Oh Naru, your participating this year?" He asked deviously.

Naru didn't like being around him, mainly because he stank of snakes, but today she needed something. "You giving out any ifnormation today?" She asked kindly.  
"Well, for my favorite kunoichi, I suppose I could dig out the stats cards." He reached into his pocket and writhdrew his deck. "Who do you want to know about?"  
"Gaara of the Sand, and Lee of the Leaf." She answered seriously, losing her smile when she got a good whiff of his scent.  
"Hm, Gaara eh?" He picked out a single card from the deck. "6 D-ranks, 15 C-ranks, 25 B-ranks, 52 A-ranks, and 2 S-ranks. He came back from each of them unscathed, interesting, eh?"  
"Yes, very." She agreed. "Now, about Lee?"  
"Hmm, let's see, 23 D-ranks, 50 C-ranks, and 3 B-ranks. His ninjutsu and genjutsu are nonexistent, but his taijutsu makes up for that." Kabuto read off.  
"Thanks for the information." She said greatfully. "That'll come in handy."

"Hey Naru, who's the guy with the glasses?" Kiba asked, kind of jealous that he and Naru seemed to know eachother.  
"Hi Kiba, this is Kabuto, I met him before the genin exams." She said happily, recovering her happy-go-lucky mask. "He gives out information on various people participating in the exams. I was asking him about these two boys I met not long ago. Their both participating."  
Akamaru barked, he didn't like the smell of snakes on that boy. And he told Kiba as much.  
"Really boy?" Kiba asked, not sure if Akamaru was kidding or not. "He can't be that strong."  
Kabuto was getting a little nervous. He knew Akamaru's nose allowed him to sniff out the strength of others, he was worried the dog had gotten his scent.

Naru knew Kabuto would end up killing anyone who suspected his secret, so she drew Kiba away, back to the other rookies. "What did Akamaru say?" She whispered anxiously.  
"He said he was stronger than most chunin, and he smelled of snakes." Kiba muttered back, careful not to let anyone hear.  
"Listen, keep it to yourself." She ordered quietly. "Kabuto has a questionable past, and I know he's more than capable of killing anyone who dwelves too deeply into his secrets. If he asks what Akamaru said, answer him, say Akamaru smelled the snakes, leave out the strength bit."  
He nodded solemnly, he knew that Naru was serious. He also wondered though, how did she know so much about Kabuto.  
"How'd you meet him exactly?" He asked curiously.

She glanced around to make sure no one was listening before answering her boyfriend. "Like I said, I met him before the genin exams. I had been training too hard and ended up tearing up some muscles. I managed to get to the village, but I had to stop, I couldn't keep forcing my muscles or I wouldn't be able to heal them at all. Kabuto found me sitting in an alley, he knows lots of medical jutsu, and he healed me." She said truthfully. "We got to talking, but when he left, I knew he'd been hiding a lot from me. So I did my research."  
Kiba nodded his understanding. Yep, he certainly did have the most strangest girlfriend alright.

The door opened and everything became quiet when they saw who was standing in the doorway. It was Ibiki Morino, head of Torture and Interrogations.  
Known for his love of torture in it's cruelest form. Very, very sadistic as well.

"Alright brats! Take a number and sit down! The test will begin momentarily!" Everyone scrambled to get a number from one of the chunin assistants.  
Naru's own number was twenty seven. She sat down, Hinata sat to her right, and some boy sat to her left. Underneath the genjutsu, her ears and tail quivered excitedly.  
She knew that there were several people who were already chunin mixed into the bunch, what she didn't know, was why.

"Alright, let me explain the tests!" Ibiki ordered, he still sounded so sadistic. "First off, there are ten questions. Ten minutes before the end of the exam, I'll ask the tenth one. If you are caught cheating twice, you will be escorted from the room! Now, start writing!"  
Naru flipped over her paper and smirked to herself. To any normal genin, these questions would be impossible to answer. To her, not so much.

She finished filling them all in with twenty minutes to spare, so she decided to check out how her team was doing. Sasuke had used his sharingan to get the answers of someone one row ahead of him and to the right.  
Sakura had done her best, but most of the question were still blank. She was directly behind her, by some stroke of luck.  
Naru of course, didn't believe in luck. In hard work, sure, luck, not so much.  
She sighed heavily and leaned back in her chair, putting her feet on the table. She caught Sakura's eyes, and those green eyes strayed to Naru's paper.  
Sakura nodded slightly before checking to see if the coast was clear. With two minutes to spare, all three of them had completed the first test without getting caught once.

"Alright brats! There's ten minutes left! It's time for the tenth question!" Ibiki roared, an evil gleam in his eye. "But before we go on to that! If any of you don't think they can answer the question, your free to leave! Because if you get the question wrong, then you and your team will be unable to take the test a second time! Get it wrong, and that's it! Your a genin for life!"  
Sakura looked like she was going to be sick, Sasuke glanced at the pinkette nervously. A fact Naru was well aware of. He was good at hiding his emotions, but even he had flaws in his mask.

Naru kicked back again to look up into Sakura's face. She gave a quick wink before righting her chair again. By now, several people had already left the room, and a few others were glancing around nervously.  
Deciding now was as good a time as ever to put on her mask, Naru stood and slammed her palm on the table. "Try and intimidate us all you want! You won't scare me! There's no way I'm running away! You've got take risks if you want to go anywhere in life!" She sat back down and looked very pleased with herself.  
However on the inside she was wishing she hadn't had to do that. 'Oh Kami it's so embarrassing!' She whined to Kyubi.  
Meanwhile, Kyu was just sighing to himself about how stupid mortals could be. If not for them, his student wouldn't have to make a fool out of herself on purpose.

The last guy who wanted to leave, left. Ibiki grinned from ear to ear, stretching his scars over his face. "You all...PASS!" He roared.  
Sakura's jaw hit the floor with an audible thump, Sasuke just blinked with a look that said, are-you-serious? Kiba was hitting the table with his head many many times. Everyone else did lots of stuff, but Naru's reaction was the strangest of them all.  
"YEAH! On to the second part!" She cried, holding up a victory sign. (Cue anime face falls.)

Suddenly, just when the shock was starting to wear off, the glass in all the windows shattered and a tan looking ball flew into the room.  
A banner appeared out of no where that read; Second Exam Proctor, the Cute and Still Single, Anko Mitarashi!  
The thing running through everyone's mind at the moment; And she wonders why that is?  
The tan ball stood up, revealing Anko, just covered in her trench coat to avoid the glass. "As the banner says, I'm Anko Mitarashi! And I'll be the proctor for the second part of the exam!" She announced.  
She was about to say more, but she caught sight of Naru.

"Naru!" She cried joyfully. She jumped over several kids and landed on a terrified Naru's desk. She picked up her little kunoichi project and proceded to squish her out of existence.  
"Kami, have mercy." Naru pleaded breathlessly. "Can't breath, need air."  
Anko carried her back to the front of the room and started pulling on her hair. "Why is your hair back in pig tails!" She demanded. "The pony tail was way cuter!" Looking up, she saw the other genin staring at her like she was from another world.  
Then again, maybe she was.  
"Okay kiddies, meet at training grounds 44, the forest of death for part two of the chunin exams!" She announced, carrying a screaming Naru out the window.

When everyone finally arrived at the training grounds, they saw a very weird sight. Anko was having fun playing with Naru's hair while Naru was copying seals onto pieces of paper she could put on kunai.  
These seals she'd made were ice seals, something she'd been working on for a while. A mixture of wind and water, to make an ice explosion.  
Anko finished with Naru's hair, to reveal it was now in a style similar to Tenten's. Two golden buns, only these were held together with senbon covered in poison.  
"Thanks, Anko." Naru said hesitantly. She silently vowed the senbon and buns would mysteriously dissappear once in the forest of death.  
"No problem, Gaki!" She said, pushing Naru off her little platform. Personally, Naru was glad, it meant she could now go to her teammates and fade into the background, away from prying eyes.

Anko explained the rules; 1, You had to find the matching scroll, by taking one from an opposing team. 2, This was a team test, meaning if one of the members was killed, you failed. 3, Sign the wavers before going in so Anko wouldn't be sued. (Is that right? Sued?)  
Team seven got their scroll and decided who would hold it. Naru drew them closer to whisper to them. "Listen, they still think that Sasuke is the strongest in our team, they'll expect him to be holding it." She explained. "They won't expect the weaker of the group to be protecting it." She pointed out.  
Eventually, they agreed to let Sakura keep it. If push came to shove, Sakura would give it to Naru, who would lead the enemy on a wild goose chase and double back to meet with her team.  
But as a back up plan, Naru made a fake Heaven's scroll, to trick the enemy with, which she had Sasuke hold.

Now, as team seven waited at the gate for the start of the exam, they could only think about the present, and try to deal with each problem as it presented itself.  
Finally, the gates opened. Without losing any time, Naru and her friends charged head first into the biggest adventure of their ninja lives yet.

Finally, team seven stopped to catch their breath in a small clearing. "Alright, do we all know the plan?" Sasuke asked them.  
The two girls nodded in sync.  
Something was bothering Naru though, she could feel three chakra signatures close by. "We should probably have some sign to show that none of us are imposters, in case we get temporarily seperated." Naru advised, feeling uneasy.  
Sakura tried to think of something, but she was coming up blank. A little light bulb lit up over Naru's head. "I got it! You all remember that quote from Kakashi-sensei, right?"  
It took a moment for her friends to catch on to what she was saying. "Right, we all know it, but no one else does." Sasuke acknowledged.

So the password became, those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandond their comrades was worse than trash.  
Feeling slightly better, Naru went into the bushes for a little privacy.  
The chakra she had sensed jumped into action, quickly tying her up. "Heheehe, now we can steal their scroll, easily." Said one of the masked wierdos, using a henge to look like Naru.  
To bad for him, he put up the golden blonde hair with senbon, while the original ones had been discarded as soon as Naru was out of Anko's line of sight.  
She could only hope her friends picked up on it.

Once the three enemy nins left her alone, she untied the ropes easily enough. She ran off, and hid behind a tree to see what was going on.  
A Naru imposter was just stepping out of the bushes now. Sasuke and Sakura gave no outward appearance of recognizing Naru there as an imposter. "Sorry I took so long guys!" 'Naru' cried happily, too happily. Good, another strike against him, Naru thought, she let her mask down when she was with her friends.  
"Naru, what's the password?" Sasuke asked drearily, as if he didn't really care. But Naru could see his muscles were tensing just slightly, ready to go.  
In the darkness behind the tree, Naru unsealed a ninjato, a small ninja knife, used commonly for quick assinations.  
Fake Naru was currently sweating bullets, though to most she appeared to be happy and relaxed. He's buying for time, Naru thought silently, tensing just slightly, ready to run in if it looked like trouble.

"Uh, the password?" Fake Naru repeated. "Right! The quote from Kakashi-sensei! That's it, isn't it?" She/he answered smoothly, like it was expected of her/him.  
"Wrong answer." Sasuke said coldly, looking intently at the buns on fake Naru's head, or more percisely, the senbon.  
"Your not the real Naru." He stated calmly. "Uh, W-what are you talking about Sasuke-kun?" Oh, this boy was an idiot. He actually though I was a fangirl! Naru demanded silently, she was beyond mad now, this guy was making a mockery of her face! He was going to pay, hard.  
"Give it up, Fakey!" Naru called. "Your impersonation is a joke at best! You don't know the first thing about me!" she stepped out of the shadows, and into the light, her golden hair fluttered around in the gentle breeze, making for a very dramatic entry. "First off, I've been trained in escape jutsu for quite some time now. Those knots wouldn't hold an infant, let alone a thirteen year old girl!"  
Fake Naru was now staring at her in what seemed to be the unholy love child of awe and fear, awear? Feawe?

Naru gave off kiling intent like a pig gave off stink, and fake Naru knew she/he, only had one hope. "Guys, that's the imposter! Not me!" She cried pathetically.  
But Sakura and Sasuke both recognized the real Naru's personal KI, so it was an easy answer as to who was real and who wasn't.  
"Dude, your digging yourself a hole." Naru commented, jumping down to her waiting friends. "Now, tell your teammates to come out of the bushes and let's have a clean battle."  
If he was scared before, the enemy nin was freaking out now! This was supposed to be the dead last! How could she escape?  
Better question, how could a genin give off such KI?

(I don't feel like typing up the stupid fight, since we all know team seven beats the enemy nins to a very bloody pulp)

Two hours after the short fight between the enemy nins and them, team seven was still travelling through the forest. The enemy nins had the scroll they'd been looking for, so they weren't in much of a hurry.  
Without warning, a giant snake crashed into them. Sasuke and Sakura managed to hang on, but Naru was knocked flying somewhere far off in the right direction.

Naru's POV

AARGH! Geez, why does my life feel like a bad story? (I'm starting to get mad at Naru now) Groaning, I climbed to my feet, to see my worst fear.  
"Holy crap!" I screamed, planning to turn tail and run as far and fast as I could from the giant sized snake behind me. Sadly for me, the snake caught me and swallowed. "NO! I don't want to die like this!" I cried desperatly. Snakes and me are on very bad terms, so at first I thought this was just a snake that smelled foxes on me. Until when I dug out my ninjato, it cut the stomache alright, but the cut healed too quickly for me to follow up.  
"A summons!" I gasped.

Well, a snake's stomache can only hold so much. I put my hands together into the monkey seal. "Multi shadow clone jutsu!" A thousand or more me's appeared, and the snake exploded.  
Moaning over what I must have done to make the universe hate me, I glanced down at my clothes. "UGH! I'm going to be sick!" True to m word, I ran to the nearest bush and emptied my already low stomache. "I need a shower! And some nose plugs!"  
"Kit, shouldn't you go and deal with the summoner? He's probably messing with your team." Kyu pointed out, hoping to distract his, frankly foul smelling, pupil from the snake guts covering every inch of her body.  
"I don't wanna!" I cried, pouting on the ground now. "I don't wanna, he'll just summon another giant snake to eat me!"  
"Kit, go and help them, or I'll force you to grow eight more tails, very painfully." Kyu warned me.  
That was enough motivation for me!

I found my team again, and saw a guy with what appeared to be a melting face. It was a grass nin, but his chakra signature was off the charts. This guy, was no genin. In any meaning of the word, he was a sannin.  
Great, this day just gets better and better, doesn't it? I groaned inwardly. (Now, prepare to feel sorry for Naru-chan!)  
Knowing things were going from bad to worse for my team, I unsealed my strongest weapon.  
A naginata, a polearm weapon with a curved blade on the edge. It was the first weapon Kyu had trained me to use, and I was good at it.  
Now, all I needed, was to make my move.

Normal POV

Orochimaru was surprised the girl had beaten his snake, but then again, this was the girl Kabuto said specialized in the element of surprise.  
Sasuke was interesting alright, but Naru had so much more potential. Sasuke was strong, but when he taunted the boy about how he wasn't strong enough to beat Itachi, he just shook the sannin off! Kabuto had told him young Naru hid much of her skill, though he couldn't tell how much. Since Orochimaru knew the Leaf would be biased when it came to her, he was confused as to who could be training her.  
That was when he came to a realisation, the fox must be the one training her! She was a potential diamond in the rough, and apparently she was stronger than he knew.

He knocked Sasuke unconcious and kicked him to the side. The pink haired dead weight caught the boy. "Naru, why don't you come out? I've been interested in meeting the Nine TailS Fox's jinchuriki for quite some time!" Orochimaru stated to the forest, knowing she was listening right now.  
Naru stepped out of the shadows, directly behind the sannin. "So your Orochimaru?" She asked, though she already knew the answer. Only he could summon snakes.  
"Ah, Naru-chan, would you like to fight?" He asked, turning his head around to see her.  
Funnily enough, Orochimaru had never seen Naru before, not even a picture, so he hadn't known what to expect, other than she was a girl.

This young woman behind him reminded him very much of his former teammate, Tsunade. Only she held a naginata, and she was clearly stronger than Tsunade had been at her age.  
What surprised him most, was her eyes. They were sharp and cold, calculating, taking in every detail. Hard and steady, she was completely serious.  
"Sakura, I need you to release that genjutsu!" Naru ordered, never taking her eyes off the snake in carnate in front of her.  
"H-hai!" Sakura responded, making a handsign.  
Suddenly, fox ears and a tail appeared on the girl, and her eyes were no longer blue, they were purple, and slitted.

"How interesting." Orochimaru commented excitedly. He was glad he'd chosen this girl, she hald so many surprises up her wide rimmed sleeves.  
"Let's begin." He said, slipping into a fighting stance. Naru smirked, remembering Zabuza. "No, let's finish."  
They charged eachother, Orochimaru using bare hands, trying to find an opening, Naru with her naginata, using her superior speed and agility to her greatest advantages.  
Finally, she managed to land a blow. She gave the great Orochimaru a cut on his pale cheek!

Instead of looking surprised, Orochimaru looked pleased. "My, my, you are certainly powerful, aren't you?" It was a rhetorical question of course, but Naru answered anyway.  
"You've only seen a fraction of what I can do." She boasted, hoping to catch him off guard.  
He was fast though, she needed an edge. She set down onto one knee, and took off the wieghts hidden beneath her ninja pants.  
All in all, Naru wore a thousand pounds, twice as much as Lee did. When her wieghts fell, they made very big holes in the ground.  
"Let's get back to it then." Naru said tauntingly, holding up her naginata defensively.

Orochimaru had to admit, whoever had taught this girl the ways of the kunoichi did a very good job. (Somewhere in the Leaf near the forest, Anko sneezed, before seeing some chunin patrols running over to her) Even though she was only thirteen, she was putting every curve of the woman's body to good use.  
But he would not be beaten by a mere child! She had good stamina, the best of most others, but she was growing wearly now.  
Her movements were beginning to get sloppy, it was only a matter of time when she slipped up.

Finally, she lost her footing on the tree branch and almost fell to her death. At the last possible moment, she grabbed the edge of the branch with her left hand.  
But she was too exhasted to pull herself up one handed. She had used chakra to enhance her strength, but now it was coming back to bite her in arse.  
Orochimaru chuckled and looked down on the struggling girl, trying desperatly not to fall. He kneeled down, and Naru was considering taking her chances with gravity, when he grabbed her forearm in a vicelike grip.  
He made some one handed signs, then his neck stretched to reach her own.

Naru's scream echoed through the entire forest, and everyone inside it shivered. Such an ear piercing shriek could only mean one thing to them, death.  
Meanwhile, back with the illegitamate child of Lord Voldemort and Count Dracula, Naru was being pulled up by her arm, barely holding onto her weapon.  
"Come to me, when you seek more power." Orochimaru advised her, tossing her back onto the branch. "Ja ne." He said, dissappearing into the bark of the tree.  
Sakura climbed up the tree with a now concious again Sasuke. When they got to Naru's branch, they saw her curled up in a fetal position, clearly in lots 'o' pain. (see? Feel sorry for poor Naru-chan! Or no new stories!)

Sasuke found a hollow tree where they could rest. He and Sakura set up multiple traps, in case someone tried sneaking up on them.  
Naru was unconcious now, and she had a very high fever. Sometimes, she would groan, as though she still felt the awful pain.  
Her friends were worried about her, but the best thing they could do now, would be to watch over her.  
They had replaced the genjutsu, hiding her foxy traits, but her eyes remained slitted.  
For most of the day, they stayed there, and that is of course, when trouble came to call.

Three sound nins came, and thrashed Sasuke and Sakura, as they loyally protected their friend from the ones seeking her blood.  
But just when they were about to finish the leaf genin off, an overwhelming KI filled the area. Standing by the roots of the tree, stood a seriously peeved Naru.  
A seriously peeved Naru, holding a big black scythe. Yeah, that's enough to scare the most icy hearted man on the planet.  
And now, the sound nin who had almost killed her friends, were facing that nightmare turn reality.

"You should know this, mess with my friends, you mess with me." She said deathly calm. She dissappeared, then reappeared behind the enemy's leader. "And you don't want to mess with me." (YAY, BadA$$ Naru! SWEET!)  
Well, that poor sound nin dropped a friend down his pants, before nearly having his arms torn off. "You seem proud of your arms, why don't I take them from you?" She asked, a sadistic smile covering her features.  
Naru kicked some arse, then sent them all running, tail between their legs.  
But she didn't want to stop yet, she wanted to cause more pain.  
The mark wanted her to cause more pain.

"Naru?" Sakura asked hesitantly, afraid her best friend wouldn't be able to control herself. Naru turned to the pinkette, and seemed to recognize her.  
"S-Sakura." She muttered, suddenly feeling very tired as the mark receded back to her neck. Sakura caught her when she fell, and carried/dragged her back to the hollow tree.  
Meanwhile, a very scared team eight ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. There was no way they were willingly going up against Naru, even if she was highly weakened.  
Shikamaru, of course, was the one most freaked. Mainly because the power naru had shown, was waaaayyy, past high chunin like she'd said.  
Either she hadn't known her own strength, or she'd been lying. He preferred the lying one personally.  
Needless to say, he certainly hauled lazy arse when it came to getting away from her. She was scary.

Meanwhile, Naru was getting a rundown of all that had happened after she got, 'the hickey of doom' as she jokingly deemed it.  
(Somewhere far away in the Leaf, Orochimaru disguised as the Kazekage sneezed)  
Naru was more worried about turning into a vampire than about a certain snake. He had bitten her neck! For pete's sake! Clearly he was a vampire! (I'm actually still trying to prove that.)

Finally, team seven reached the tower on the third day of the exam. Two whole days earlier than when most would arrive. Walking inside, they opened the scrolls after reading the big banner thingy on the wall.  
And...OUT POPPED IRUKA!  
"Wow, your early." Iruka commented, seeing the team he'd been assigned to.  
He was slightly startled to see Naru with numerous injuries, leaning against a wall, trying to hide her pain. (And apparently doing a bad job of it, since Iruka could see it)  
"Naru, are you alright?" He asked, concerned for his adoptive daughter.  
"I'm fine, Iruka-sensei!" She assured him with a mischevious smile. "You should see the other guy!"  
He sighed and made a mental note to talk to Lord Hokage about this. "Well, your allowed to stay in the tower for the next two days to recover. At that time, we'll see what happens."  
Iruka showed them to a room they could stay in, then left.

Naru immediatly fell onto one of the beds. "I am warning you, the first person to try and wake me up, is going to become my ew chew toy!" She said seriously.  
Sakura giggled and Sasuke chuckled when their secretive teammate fell asleep, and ended up cuddling her pillow.  
With the second part of the exam done, they lazed around, not having anything to do and enjoying it.  
Sasuke even told Sakura his favorite food was tomatoes! (YAY! I've decided Sasuke will fall in love with strong Sakura-chan!)

When two days had passed, they walked into the stadium where everyone else was. Kiba immediatly spotted Naru and called them over.  
"Hey you guys! How'd you do?" The question was more pointed at Naru, but Sasuke answered. "We got here two days ago. We had a lucky run in with some weaklings."  
Kiba smirked, he should've figured they'd have all the luck. When Naru got put into the bingo book, and he was sure she would someday, he was certain underneath her discription would be, luckiest girl, ever!

Hayate did not want to explain to a bunch of kids that were very tired, that there would have to be preliminaries. "The, cough, board will randomly, cough cough, choose two people. Cough, those two people will then, cough, fight. The winner, cough cough, will move on through the chunin exams. Cough."  
Kabuto was the only one who admitted he couldn't take a fight, and left.

"Alright then, cough, let's look at the board." Hayate said, turning to look at the board thingy. "Alright, looks like Naru Uzumaki, vs..."

/Breaky time!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
LC; OOOOOOHHH, cliff hanger! I'm so evil!  
Naruto; But I want to know who I'm fighting!  
Sakura; Stop whining, Naruto! Or else she'll probably do something to us.  
LC; Oh how right you are, Sakura-chan!  
Sasuke; You are a sadistic bastard, you do know this, correct?  
LC; HEHEHEHE, YEP I SURE DO!  
Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto; *Seatdrop*  
LC; Now for next chappie's sneak peak! Next time, on a Kunoichi's tail! Naru fights someone nobody ever expected, can she win? Watch as Orochimaru's plans begin to unfold, revealing an ending to this arc no one ever had or ever will think of!  
Now review, or I won't feel loved and no new chappie will magically write itself!;)  



	9. Chapter 9

LC; My genius astounds even me!  
Naruto; Finally, we can find out who I'm fighting!  
Sasuke; God, I'm almost afraid to find out. If Uchihas could feel fear anyway.  
LC; Stop being a pompous jerk! Your nice in this fic!  
Sasuke;*grumbles under breath about geniuses/insane people*  
LC; OKAY, Everything's fine, for it's chappie nine!  
Disclaimer; Again, me no own Naru-chan! Me however own vicous plot bunnies with rabies! Sic 'em boys! *Kishimoto runs away screaming from thousands of rabid plot bunnies*

Chapter 8, Surprising turns of events?

"Alright, looks like it's Naru Uzumaki vs..." Hayate reread the board, trying to make sense of the strange letters. "Uh, vs, uh, Kishi_ Uzumaki_?"  
Most of the people there did not know what was so strange, but the ones who did, were all like, WWHHHAAAAAAAAATT!  
If she were to be honest, Naru was pretty much brain dead right about now.  
She was an orphan, her mother was dead, but this guy, Kishi, had the same last name! Okay, was the universe trying to tell her something?

When everyone else climbed up the two sets of stairs and out of the way, Naru got a good look at Kishi Uzumaki.  
His headband was also tied to his forehead, the symbol was similar to the Leaf's, but without the little stick or the little arrow point thingy. It was just a swirly thingy.  
"A pleasure to meet you, Naru-sama." He said bowing deeply to her. "When my family heard Kushina-sama's daughter lived in the Leaf village, they sent me and my team here."  
Yep, Naru was most definetly brain dead. "I am Kishi Uzumaki, and I am the son of Kushina-sama's younger brother, Petro Uzumaki, from the village hidden in the whirling tides. It is an honor to fight you."

They stood there, scoping the other out. Kishi's thoughts went somewhere on the lines of; She looks like her father, but she has Kushina-sama's personality. She is strong, and from what we heard, that is due to something locked inside her. I wonder if she's unlocked the gekki genkai yet. Probably not, she doesn't even know about it, yet.  
While Naru's went something like this; Okay, red hair, small scar on right cheek, big muscles for a thirteen year old boy, smart clothes, clearly powerful, I'm screwed. I mean, I know there had to be other Uzumaki's out there, but I never expected to meet my _cousin_!

Hayate was still looking back and forth between the two. So different, yet undeniably the same. You could just _feel_ they were both related somehow.  
"Begin when ready." Wow, that was the first sentence in years that hadn't been interupted by a cough.  
To her surprise, Kishi unsealed a naginata, similar to hers. Oh, this was going to be fun.  
"Don't think I'll go easy on you!" She warned, unsealing her own.

In the blink of an eye, the two clashed, each trying to lever the naginata of the other out of their hands. Finally, they seperated to catch their breath.  
"Your pretty good for someone who doesn't know the family techniques." Kishi panted, enjoying the challenge. "Tell me, who trained you?"  
Oh great, the beginning of the questions she didn't want to answer. "An old friend of mine started me on the path of kenjutsu." She said vaugely.  
They clashed again, each raging war with their awesome weapons. So far, it looked like a full on kenjutsu war, until Naru pulled out her secret weapon.

It was a kunai with an exploding seal attached. She threw it at Kishi when he knocked her a few feet back. Using her polearm, she pushed herself farther away, out of the blast.  
Kishi jumped high, trying to avoid the blast, to his surprise, the tag was a dud.  
He heard a war cry above him and looked up in time to see Naru performing a daunting axe kick from the roof. (She got up there using her ninja awesomeness, stop asking!)  
Kishi crashed onto the floor, hard, very, very, _very_, hard.  
He groaned and stood again. "Impressive, last time I did that move, the guy I was sparring with couldn't move for three days." Naru commented, remembering doing this when she was peeved off at Sasuke during training.  
Sasuke shuddered at the memory, feverishly praying she would never use it on him again.

"An Uzumaki, does not, give up!" Kishi panted, he unsealed a sickle and chain, deciding they were evenly matched with the naginata.  
Naru too, resealed her naginata. She instead took out a different kind of sealing scroll. Unwinding it, she began twirling it around her body, preparing for her jutsu. (Well, it's kind of a jutsu)  
"Single Dragon Jutsu!" She cried out, temporarily hidden by a puff of smoke. When it cleared, everyone in the room gasped.  
Well, everyone except those who had seen her use this before.

Naru Uzumaki's newest weapon, in all it's kick arse glory. (I've suddenly become fond of the word arse;) It was a beautifully crafted five pronged dragon shuriken. While the largest most shuriken were made was a size slightly smaller than the wielder's body, this one, was different.  
This one was almost twice as big as Naru, but it had a reedeming quality. The spikes would be swung around, able to cut an enemy even when they thought they had dodged it. This weapon was not a throwing weapon though, this one was used in close combat. It could be thrown, but it was more effective when the opponent could not move away or dodge.

"Let's see how you handle some close combat." Naru chuckled, holding the shuriken in front of her derensively. Without warning, she began running forward, moving at an almost blinding speed.  
Kishi only had time to bring his weapon's chain in front of him to catch the shuriken when it crashed down on him. He grunted, but held his ground.  
"I'd be careful if I were you, dragons were known to be very agile." Naru warned him, not losing her smile.  
She pushed down on a previously hidden indentation and the spike that was directly above his head began swinging down, forcing him to dodge to the side.  
But he didn't get away unscathed, he got a nasty gash on his leg, sprinkling the ground in blood. "Had enough yet?"  
He smirked and beckoned with his free hand, ignoring the pain in his leg. "Uzumaki's have large pain thresholds." He stated calmly. "You must know this better than anyone else in our clan."  
She frowned, catching his suggestive tone. Did he know? Could he possibly know?

"Your better than I thought you'd be, I confess Naru-sama." He said calmly, he was calm now, but he was starting to get irritated, he had to find a way to speak with her without all of them listening.  
"The Leaf village must have great kenjutsu masters." Hayate was confused enough as it is, but that last statement got him. As far as he knew, he was the only kenjutsu master here, but this girl, was clearly better than even he.  
"Why do you keep calling me sama?" Naru demanded, trying to steer the conversation away from teachers. "Just because I'm the daughter of Kushina Uzumaki, does not mean I deserve that honorific title!"  
Kishi was confused now, did she not want to be called sama? But, she was higher ranked than he was, so he should call her sama to be polite, right?  
"I call you sama because you are the daughter of the daughter of the head of our clan." He stated, like this was obvious. "Kushina was the first born child, so she would have been the heir had she not married out of the clan."

Sarutobi was very nervous now. He didn't want to know how this young boy knew about Naru's parentage, but he greviously hoped he wouldn't let slip who her father was.  
Naru glanced up at the man who was for all intents and purposes, her grandfather. She knew why he had not told her, and she did not blame him. To be honest, she was grateful to her father for doing what he did.  
"I remember my father telling me he tried to talk Kushina out of marrying him, M-" Naru appeared out of nowhere and clamped his mouth shut with her hand.  
"Kishi, do not speak his name." She ordered. He nodded and she let him go, then jumped back to the opposite end of the floor.  
"I apologize, Naru-sama." He said, inclining his head rather than bowing. "I forgot it was a sensative subject."  
Sarutobi was sweating bullets now. Did Naru already know?

Naru saw the Old Man looking very nervous, so she decided to get him to relax. "Old Man, relax already! You couldn't expect to hide it from me forever! You'd have to be blind not to see it!"  
So she did know, in a way that relieved him. And from what he could see, she didn't hate Minato, he would be happy to know his daughter did not despise him.

Turning back to her opponent, she charged again, intending to end this quickly. The mark was acting up. It had been quiet up until now, maybe because she was channeling chakra?  
The dragon shuriken was still too new, she hadn't had time to fully master it yet, she would have to fight with something more familiar soon.  
"Just using kenjutsu is a little dull, don't you think?" She asked Kishi, not really wanting an answer.  
She resealed her shuriken, and made the monkey handsign. "Shadow clone jutsu!"  
Ten Naru's now commanded the floor, having many of the present jounin wondering who taught her that. Kishi began using his sickle and chain to try and find the real Naru, but he was having no luck.

He destroyed all ten Narus, but the real one was no where in sight. "Huh?" He looked around, keeping his guard up, prepared for a sneak attack.  
What he wasn't prepared for, was one of his sickles to transform into Naru. "Hey there!" She said calmly, giving him a quick wink before punching him from under the jaw.  
When he went flying, she revealed the real sickle that she had pick-pocketed when he was distracted with three clones at once. "Like my personal substitution jutsu?" She asked.  
He groaned and tried to sit up. He had not been expecting that, she was truly good. "What made you think of switching yourself with my weapon?" He asked curiously.  
"Well, I kind of made it up on the spot." She admitted, scratching her head. "I knew I needed to get in your guard without breaking it or giving myself away, so I interchanged myself with your sickle."

She twirled the one she'd taken from him around her head. "Naru-sama, you are a worthy opponent, but I will not give up." He stood again, ready to fight.  
"That's good, I would have been dissappointed." She taunted, trying to make him angry. "When this is over, we've got to talk about this clan I come from."  
He nodded in agreement and began making handsigns. She began making her own, preparing for a special jutsu of hers. (Not sexy jutsu! Get your minds out of the gutter!)  
"Water style, swirling waves jutsu!" Kishi cried, summoning forth a giant ball of water that seperated into dozens of water tentacles, each reaching for where she still stood making signs.  
Finally she finished, calling forth a jutsu Kyubi had taught her. One that had not been seen for a thousand years.

"Nine whips jutsu!" She cried. In her right hand, she held five whips of fire, blood red fire. In her left, she held four blue whips created of fire as well.  
She waved first one hand, and then the other. "Funny thing is I haven't had much time to master this jutsu." She admitted. "Oh well, this is as good a time as any to see the destructive power for myself."  
She swung her right arm out at the water coming at her, causing it to evaporate into steam. Even though it just hit water, the fire didn't go out.  
Kishi was suspicious about the burning whips, but he didn't let that daunt him. However, no matter how many times he striked at her with his water, the flames did not burn out.

Finally, he had to try something alse. He made handsigns, and called forth. "Eath style, mud shot jutsu!" He turned the cement back into earth, and fired little cannon balls at her.  
Surprisingly enough, her flames didn't last long when confronted with mud, something everyone noted. When her right hand was burned out, she began fighting with her left one.  
Eventually those whips burned out too, and she began jumping and running all around in an effort to avoid the balls of mud.  
Finally, Kishi got a lucky shot and hit her square in the gut. For a moment he was worried he'd badly hurt her, but then she started getting up again.  
"Kami, who knew balls of mud could hurt so much?" She asked, standing up again. "Gotta hand it to you Kishi, your strong, but it's about time I got something looked at, so I hope you forgive me for ending this now."

She made the monkey sign again, but instead of ten clones, she made fifty. While her clones distracted Kishi, she began setting up her little trap.  
It was about damn time she found a use for her ice tags.  
When she was done, she spooked him by dismissing the last ten clones. He stepped back involuntarily, and tripped a trip wire.  
"Oh no!" He gasped, seeing several kunai flying towards him from the right. He did the logical thing and jumped back, stepping on another wire.  
"What?" He gasped, again. Before he could move, a tag went off, and ice shards began going everywhere.  
By the end of it, poor Kishi was stuck half way in a block of ice.  
His lower body was completely trapped, as well as one arm so he could not make seals. Panting from the exertion and pain of the mark, she walked over to him. When she reached him, she held a kunai to his neck, and he was unable to do anything.

"Winner, Naru Uzumaki!" Hayate announced, recovering from his shock. Technically, everyone was wondering the same thing. Was this really the dead last prankster? Was this her true power? When had she become so strong? And the most worrying, who had taught her?

(Now, because I am too lazy, I will not write the battles of everyone else, I'll just write the winner)  
Sasuke vs. sound nin, winner Sasuke.  
Sakura vs. Ino, winner Sakura (deal with it!)  
Shikamaru vs. sound nin, winner Shikamaru.  
Temari vs. Tenten, winner Temari.  
Kankuro vs. sound nin, winner Kankuro.  
Lee vs. Garra, winner Gaara.  
Kiba vs. grass nin, winner, grass nin. (Sorry Kiba)  
Shino vs. grass nin, winner, Shino.  
Back to the story!

After Naru was declared winner, she used a special tag, one that negated the effects of the ice tag. Once he was free, he thanked her and asked if he could speak with her alone.  
"I'd like to, but there's something I need to see to first." She declined. "But we've got plenty of time, we'll have that talk."  
He nodded and she graced him with a small chuckle. "We're a lot alike, it was nice fighting with you, Kishi-san."  
She walked to where Kakashi-sensei stood uneasily. "Do you know about the snake in the forest?" She asked, sure to keep it vauge.  
"Yeah, come on, let's go see to that bite." He said, gesturing for her to follow.

He led her to a room with an intricate seal painted all over. "Um, this is going to sound bad, but, could you remove everything but the barest clothes?" Kami he felt awkward asking his student that.  
He had the sneaking suspicion his sensei was glaring down at him, daring him to do something inappropriate. He knew, even if it was in the after life, both Minato and Kushina would cause him great pain if he tried anything with Naru.  
"This better be necessary, Kakashi." She said seriously, already taking her jacket off.  
Soon, she was only wearing white panties and a bra, and she was freezing cold. "Let's get this over with before I catch a cold." She said, shivering in the damp. "And soul help me Kakashi, if you stare at me for a second longer, I will hurt you!"  
Kakashi looked away hurredly, not wanting to be on the recieving end of Naru's anger. Especially since he knew she disliked perverts with a passion, a hot and flaming one.

Still, he couldn't help but admire her fit little body as he drew the signs across her body. Then came the awkward part, he had to make signs across her chest, her bra covered chest.  
In his mind, he was cursing the man who invented this for not thinking about the consequences of performing this on a woman! Damn you Minato! Why didn't you ever think of this! She allowed him to make the signs on her bra, but reluctantly, knowing full well Kakashi was a pervert.

Huh, it's hard to tell when she's wearing that jacket, but she's got B-cups already. He thought idly to himself. No! Bad Kakashi, don't think about your student that way! BAD!  
When he finished, he stood behind her. "This won't hurt a bit." He said calmly, putting a hand on the mark. "Cursed mark seal!" He cried.  
Instantly, the many signs he'd painstakingly written began retracting to surround the curse mark. Naru's screams filled the empty room, echoeing of the walls, sounding rather erie.

When he was done, she sank to her knees and clutched at the base of her neck. "I thought you said it wouldn't hurt!" She growled, thinking of painful ways to kill him.  
"Well, it didn't hurt me!" He said cooly, flashing an eye smile under his mask. "But just so you know, this seal is derived from your will. Should your will waver, for even a second, and the mark will overwhelm you. You'll lose control."  
She panted, she was exhausted, all she really wanted was to sleep. "Don't worry about it then, if I'm anything, it's stubborn. This mark isn't going to get the better of me!" She swore.  
He smiled again, because he knew she was right. In the little time he'd known her, she had yet to give up on anything that seemed hopeless.  
Where others quit, she stood back up and found a way. That was just they way she was made. She wasn't made, to give up.

She fell to the floor, unconcious, unable to stay awake a moment more. "Now, now, Kakashi, did you really have to seal my mark?" He spun around, already drawing a kunai. "Orochimaru, I won't let you lay a finger on my student!" He held the kunai threateningly. He was ready to defend the sleeping girl behind him. "Now Kakashi, what's with the look?" He asked, cocking his head to one side innocently. "I merely came to make sure she was going to survive the mark. It's still rather a lot of guess work when I give it to a child. Too old, and their bodies repel it, too young, and their bodies aren't strong enough to sustain it. I won't be fighting you on this occasion, but I warn you, she will come to me, wether willingly or unwillingly, she will come."  
He vanished, not leaving a trace.

Kakashi meanwhile, was standing with his jaw gaping. Not that you could see it because of his damn awesome mask. "I just threatened the snake sannin Orochimaru. Am I crazy?" He asked himself aloud.  
Turning around for a peek at his, frankly hot, student. "Well, that's debatable I guess." Come on, he was calling his _student_ hot. It was sooo debatable.  
He glanced at the clothes piled in a corner, and considered dressing her again. He certainly wasn't going to carry her out wearing blood stained underwear, that's for certain.  
He shuddered at the thought of what the third Hokage would do if he knew Kakashi had seen naru next to naked.  
"Maybe it's best I dress her." He concluded, not wanting to die today.

He left her with several ANBU guards in the hospital. All he wanted now was to relieve his pent up stress by reading his precious ICHA ICHA again.  
Sadly, he met with his other two students and that Kishi boy who was apparently Naru's cousin.  
"Hatake, tell me why they are not allowing visiters for Naru-sama!" Kishi demanded. "Why won't they let us in!"  
His students were yelling pretty much the same thing, just worded differently.  
"Ma, ma, they aren't allowing visiters because Naru was badly hurt recently." He said in a sort of half truth. "In the forest of death, she ran into someone who was apparently very strong and she was injured. She'll be fine in about a week or so. She heals pretty fast."  
Kishi looked ready to barge in and search for the room himself, he was impatient to speak with Naru-sama.  
Sasuke and Sakura looked like they might be content to kill Kakashi, then join Kishi.

After promises for training for the chunin exams, and in Kishi's case, a promise he would tell him when Naru was ready for visitors, Kakashi made his escape.

Three hours later, Naru began to stir. The ANBU knew they weren't supposed to be seen, so they ducked into the shadows. When Naru opened her eyes, her first thought was; AW crap, not the hospital again!  
She hated hospitals almost as much as she hated perverts. Speaking of, she'd have to get back at Kakashi for seeing her near to naked. (Death to Perverts!)  
Sighing in acceptance that she was in fact in the hospital, she sat up and evaluated her condition.  
'Hey, Kyu, how's my body look right now?' She asked herself, stretching her body at the same time.  
**"Seems they injected you with some morphine, so the pain is numbed. But that's gonna wear off soon, your body rejects most everything foreign unless I intervene." **He reported. **"They've put you on some sedative meant to keep you in bed, see if you can walk."**  
She obediantly stood up, and except for a sudden wave of dizziness, she could stand on her own. She was also pleased to see she was fully clothed once more. Kakashi got to live another day.

/YAY breaky time!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
LC; WHEW! Another one, in one day! I'm on some kinda roll!  
Naruto; Gotta admit, your faster than most everyone else on .  
Sasuke; Didn't you just put in chapter eight this morning? How do you finish so quickly?  
LC; Simple, I got nothing better to do. So I've been on my computer all day. Plus it's a weekend.  
Naruto; Just amazing.  
Sasuke; Still, for a rush job, this chapter's pretty good.  
LC; My genius shines through the blackness that is Kishimoto's awful plot!  
Naruto; YEEEAAAAHHH. *Sarcasm literally drips off his words.*  
LC; Sneaky preview! Next time on a Kunoichi's tail, Naru must face the thing she hates more than snakes! Perverts! Can she survive an entire month, or will she give in and relax a little? Join us next time to find out!  
Now review, or else, I shall makey no new chappie for a month!


	10. Chapter 10

LC; Naru-chan gets to spend some time with her godfather! YAY!  
Naruto; Why can't you change who I train with? Make it, not a pervert?  
LC; Because Jaraiya is the only one capable of it! Plus it's cool!  
Naruto; What about the water walking technique? I had to get in my underwear for that.  
LC; Me got idea! You musn't worry so much, Naru-chan!  
Sasuke; the way she says that is making me worry.  
Naruto;*Nods in agreement to Sasuke's comment*  
LC; Anyway, Tick tock goes big Ben, now here comes, chapter ten!  
Disclaimer; WAH! Kishimoto sic'ed his rabid plot guard dogs on my rabid plot bunnies! WAH! Me no own Naru-chan!

Chapter 10, One month to prepare for everything.

Naru knew that ANBU were watching her every move, it would be idiotic to try and leave the hospital today. She would wait until the situation concerning her became less urgent and they took away her guard dogs.  
She sat down on the bed with a low groan, playing the in pain rookie she was supposed to be. "Geez, that fight took too much chakra." She complained aloud, for the benefit of her guards. "Note to self, Kishi is to be avoided should I want to stay out of the hospital."  
She leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes, concentrating on going to the clearing within her mind, to train with Kyu.

At the moment, she was trying to master a new jutsu Kyu had shown her using one of his memories. It was a wind type jutsu, called Aerial blast.  
In theory, it was supposed to shoot out little bullets of wind, capable of ripping through enemy armor. Kind of like super strong, almost invisible shuriken.  
Used typically for assassinations and the like.

**"Come on Kit, all you got to do is envision what you want the wind to do, then guide it using your hand." **Kyubi instructed, correcting her chakra flow whenever it began to go in the wrong direction, so to speak.  
She tried it again, along with the several clones that were practicing along with her. Finally, one of the clones succeded in making a single bullet shoot to one of the trees.  
"YEAH!" The clone cried in victory, holding up a victory sign. "I did it!"  
She dismissed that clone and continued with her training, while in the real world, it appeared she was sleeping like a rock.

Finally, Kyu told her they'd moved her body from that room to a regular ward and she was alone. "Thanks for the heads up!" She thanked him, already fading from her mind world.  
When her eyes opened, she saw Kyu had been right, she was now in a different room, and the ANBU were gone.  
"Huh, guess it's time to get going." She muttered tiredly.  
When she sat up and the covers fell down, she saw she was wearing one of those damned hospital gowns that never covered the important parts and showed too much for comfort.  
"Where are my clothes?" She asked aloud, scanning the room for a closet or dresser they could be in.

Opening the closet, she saw her clothes had been washed and repaired, which saved trouble for her. She changed into them, then walked to the window.  
"Alright, time to get to work." She decided, opening the window, and jumping down to the ground below.

She stopped by Ichiraku's for some lunch, she was starving, and there she met Kishi. "Yo, you like ramen too?" Kishi fell off of the stool in surprise.  
From down on the ground, he looked up into the snickering face of Naru. "Naru-sama!" He gasped.  
"Would you quit with the sama thing already?" She asked, offering him one of her hands. He took it hesitantly, then she pulled him to his feet.  
"Come on, after we eat we can go somewhere more private for that talk." She said, like she'd planned on meeting him here for lunch or something.

Ten bowls of ramen later and a speechless Kishi later, found them sitting on top the fourth Hokage's head. "This is my favorite place to be to be alone." She informed him. "We shouldn't be disturbed here."  
"Right, is there anything you want to ask about?" He asked.  
"Yes, tell me everything." She said, watching him with undisguised interest. She'd been unable to find any information on the Uzumaki clan, a blow to her ego if ever there was one.  
He told her about the clan history, gave her scrolls with clan techniques, and lastly, told her about their gekki genkai, and how to unlock it.  
"It's called the Heaven's Seal." He told her. "It can only be awakened in a moment of near death. Not many in our clan have it, but those that do are destined for greatness."  
"A moment near death." She repeated, staring into the now sinking Sun. A thought occured to her, and she chose to ask about it. "Kishi, I'd like your help with something." She said slowly, unsure of how he'd react. "I want you, to help me awaken this gekki genkai."

That night, they began fighting eachother, except Naru had lots of handicaps. Kishi was going to drive her over the edge, push her to near death, so the power would awaken.  
At first, he hadn't wanted to do it. After an hour or so, he began to wonder if he even could! She never seemed to tire!  
She wasn't allowed to use weapons or jutsu, all she could do was run and dodge from Kishi and his naginata.  
Twice now he had cut her, but she was still going strong. Curse her inhuman stamina! How was she supposed to awaken her blood line limit if she couldn't tire?

They fought through the night, and when the Sun arose, both were ready to collapse. But being who they were, they refused to quit, they fought on.  
Around noon, Naru collected several more cuts on her arms and legs. She had removed her jacket through instinct to move faster, but her pants were tatters, shorts really. Her shirt only had one cut on it, right above the bust, but below the neckline. Kishi could go on for maybe another hour, but Naru could go on for a few more hours. Her stamina and speed training were coming back to haunt her. Who knew it would work against her someday?

Her teammates found them, and assumed they were merely training together. Finally, Kishi lost his footing and was unable to get up again. "Are you, alright?" Naru panted, still in her battle stance.  
"Can't move." Kishi gasped, breathing harder than Naru. "My body just won't move!"  
After that, Sasuke took over, pushing Naru to her absolute limit.  
Around three in the after noon, Naru got stuck in some mud, (From all those mud shots Kishi threw at her) she tried to get loose, but she was stuck.  
Sasuke could see she was stuck, but it was too late, he had already finished the handsigns and the fireball was moving towards her. "Naru!" Kakashi cried, knowing he would never reach her in time.  
But just before the fireball would have hit, Naru vanished.

It took about two seconds for everyone there to ask the same question. "Where'd she go!" They cried, surveying the area for a blonde kunoichi.  
"Up here!" A voice called from the air. When they looked up, they saw Naru, with a pair of golden chakra wings. "Someone tell me how to get down!" She said, tumbling in the air currents, unable to stay in one spot. "Solid ground sounds good right about now!"  
Kishi was staring at her like she was from another planet. He'd seen the chakra wing technique used before, but never such a golden color. Usually it was blue, or even purple on rare occasion. But never gold!  
"Naru-sama, concentrate on what you want the wings to do!" Kishi instructed. "They should respond!"  
She tried and found herself lowering to tree top level. When she touched down, the wings dissappeared.  
"Okay, that was cool." She said, glancing at her back to see if her shirt had been ripped. "How do I do that again?" She asked Kishi, her eyes shining with the determination to master this new ability.

However, to Naru's great dismay, Kishi refused to tell her anything until she'd recovered from their, 'spar to the death'.  
She went home for a shower, and then decided to walk about the village.  
Just as she was passing the hot springs, she saw an old man with long white hair peeking through a knot hole. From past expierence, she knew that behind that wall was the women's bath, making this man one of the things she hated.  
Grinning her signature foxy grin of doom, Naru yelled. "PERVERT!" She shrieked.  
The old man cried out and tried to find who had ratted him out, but he was blinded by the many fists of the many towel covered women from the bath.  
Once they had beaten him to a bloody pulp on the ground, they left, and Jaraiya heard the laughter of a young woman.  
He looked up into a tree, and saw a female clone of his student! 'Holy crap, it's a Minata!' He shouted in his head, allowing his jaw to break through the concrete. 'She's taking after her mother in the body department though.' He noticed, eyeing her jacket covered breasts.

"Hey now," He said pitiously. "it's not nice to laugh at a man's misfortune." He whipped out the puppy dog jutsu, which he himself had invented and passed down through the generations. (Yes, he is that old.)  
"Sorry old man." She chuckled, trying to stifle her laugh. "It's just I personally hate perverts. You were just a means to relieve stress! And I gotta say, it worked!"  
She doubled over and laughed some more, until she was sure the old man's hair was turning red with rage.  
Her face relaxed into something more serious, and Jaraiya had to fight himself not to run away when she began to grin. "Uh, why are you smiling like that?" He asked nervously.

She continued smirking and jumped down to the ground from her branch. "I just realised who you are." She informed him. "Your Jaraiya, the toad sannin, a sage."  
He seemed surprised to be recognized so easily. "If you knew that, then are you a kunoichi?" Dear Kami he hoped not, kunoichis all hated perverts with a burning passion. He caught sight of the headband previously hidden by the shadows of the tree. Oh yeah, this was a kunoichi.  
"Oh come now, what's with the face?" She asked, shooting him her still grinning mug. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"  
She stopped her creepy grinning, much to the sannin's relief. "You know, your the second sannin I've met so far."  
Oh yeah, that caught his attention.

"The second, sannin?" There was no way, Tsunade would never return, so that only left one man. Orochimaru? "Who was it? Which sannin?" He asked, keeping his cool on the outside, though internally he was wigging out.  
"His name was Orochimaru." She revealed seriously, hand reaching for her shoulder. "He confronted me and my team while we were in the forest of death. We were beaten, and badly."  
He watched her expression closely, but she was telling the honest truth. "Did he mark you?" He asked, eyeing her hand on her shoulder and slightly pained expression.  
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei sealed it for me, but it still twinges a bit." She admitted feeling uncomfortable about revealing any weaknesses. "You can ask him if you don't believe me."  
He didn't need to, he already knew she wasn't lying to him. "Kid, let's talk."

He and Naru made their way to a river, Naru sat on the bank, gesturing to the spot next to her. "What do you want to talk about?" She asked.  
"Hehe," He chuckled. "I should be asking you that, brat."  
She grinned, but this one was an actually happy grin, not the evil, I'm-gonna-kill-you-in-a-painful-way, grin.  
"I'm not entirely sure why he would give me this mark, but I do know that he expects me to join him for something." She started uncertainly. "I managed to make him sweat, but I was still no match for him." She continued. "Most of the time, I think he was just playing with me." It hurt her pride to admit it, but she couldn't very well deny it either. "Just before I would have fallen to my death though, he grabbed my arm and bit me. Making this mark."  
Jaraiya nodded sagely, (Well that's what he is!) this made sense, Orochimaru always went for the strong ones. "Do you remember anything afterwards? Or about when you just woke up?"

Something about what he said, it made her think for a moment. "I remember him telling me I would search for power for revenge, he probably meant against the Leaf, but I couldn't even if I wanted to."  
"Why not? You know what you hold, don't you?" He asked, wondering if maybe she didn't bear a grudge.  
"My parents both loved this village, I guess I inherited it." She said, too wise for someone who was thirteen. "Besides, if I were to kill everyone, how would that prove them wrong?"  
Okay, he'd been following her so far, until she dropped that bomb about proving them wrong. "Prove who wrong?" He asked curiously.  
"The entire village has hated me since my birth." She told him. "They call me demon, monster, and killer. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to show them who I really was. I am not the demon within me, I am Naru Uzumaki, and I want them to see that."

They talked until the Sun began to set. "So let me get this straight, you've been able to contact the nine tails for years, and he trains you inside your mind scape?" It was a bit too much to take in on one day.  
"That's about the gist of it." She told him, lying down on her back. "Kyu has been kinder to me than the entire village combined, along with the land of Fire. He's actually a bit of a softie once you get to know him. I started my training at three."  
Well, Jaraiya was brain dead. Who knew one girl could do all that without going mad? He'd have given up long ago!

"Pervy sage, do you need proof?" She asked, prepared to reveal her tail and ears should she need to. "I know it's a lot to take in."  
"Don't call me that brat." He grumbled, trying to figure out if this was some trick. But no, the girl was too serious for that! She certainly was a Minata, but she was Kushina when it came to her sense of humor and personality.  
"What kind of proof did you have in mind?" He asked after careful consideration. She made a handsign, and the genjutsu immediatly dispelled. His jaw went for a swim when he saw his student's daughter was some kind of fox/girl hybrid.  
"Okay, I can't think of a way to combat that." He admitted, after retrieving his jaw from the river. "But why are you telling me this? Why trust me when you just met me?"

She reached into her jacket, and pulled out one of her favorite pictures. It was one of her parents, and of the toad sannin.  
She handed it to him reluctantly, not wanting to part with her most prized possession.  
"I see, so you know almost everything, don't you?" He mumbled, remembering the day of the photo.  
"I actually know more than you know." She taunted good naturedly. "I know about my clan now."  
He gaped again, almost catching a fish in the process. This girl would make a great spy! She's more knowledgable than I am! He thought to himself.  
"What's wrong Pervy Sage?" She taunted, knees hugged to her chest. "Cat got your tongue? Or was it a fish?"  
This brat certainly was something else. One minute dead serious, the next poking fun. She's more confusing than Kushina!

Jaraiya asked her to meet him there the next day, around noon, and with that, they parted ways. Both satisfied with the day's events.  
When Naru got home, she ate a quick dinner then changed into her night clothes, making sure the blinds were closed. As she lay on her bed, she wondered what the next day would bring for her.  
**"Kit, you should get to sleep."** Kyu advised, stifling a yawn himself. **"Your exhausted, wether you care to admit it or not."**  
She sighed and turned on her side to stare at the blinking red letters of her clock. "Sometimes I wish no one had ever invented clocks." She sighed again. "Then I would not stare at mine all night and never get to sleep."  
**"Then stop staring at it." **Kyu sweatdropped. He knew Naru's inability to sleep came from her almost endless amount of chakra, but even she needed her sleep.

The Sunlight came in through the window, waking Naru from her deep sleep. "Geez, the Sun's too early." She yawned, stretching on the bed. "It always has to come when I don't set my alarm, doesn't it?"  
After a shower and breakfast, she went to go and find Kishi for more training. She wanted to be able to call up those wings without being near death, and wanted to know how to control them as well.  
She found him waiting in the same clearing as before. "Morning!" She called. He waved back and she ran over to him. "So, sensei, what are we doing today?" She joked around.  
"Well, Naru-sama, today, we'll see how well you can call up the wings with your will." He instructed, feeling older than he really was at being called sensei.

They trained until noon, then Naru had to leave to meet with Pervy Sage, as she'd dubbed him. He was waiting for her by the river, thinking about the best course of action.  
"Alright kid," He said, noticing she was there. "you probably know the waterwalking excersise, right?"  
She nodded, gesturing for him to continue. "Then you must have enough chakra control to do a summoning as well, right?"  
She blushed, wondering is he'd somehow found out about her contract with the foxes.  
"Actually, I can do summons." She said quietly, afraid to upset him.  
"Yeah, I figured the fox would've given you a contract by now." He said thoughtfully. "Do you know your father's techniques?"  
She nodded again, wondering where he was going with this.  
"Well then, have you ever made your own jutsu?" He asked, barely suppressing a triumphant grin when she shook her head. "Well then, that's what we'll be working on during our time together."

Turned out, making her own jutsu was harder then she thought it would be. She could understand why it had taken her father three years to create the rasengan.  
She had summoned enough clones to strip a tree of it's leaves, and now each one was trying to tear the leaf with their chakra alone.  
After the Heaven's Seal training, she was already tired, but this threatened to knock her out completely. She hadn't fully recovered from that day and a half spar with Kishi.  
Just before the Sun went down and the girls on the other side of the bushes left, all the clones succeded in cutting the leaf in half. "We did it!" They all cried in victory, throwing the leaves into the air and instantly dismissing themselves.  
The exhaustion hit her all at once and she fell into Jaraiya's waiting arms. "How'd I know this was gonna happen?" He asked himself jokingly.

Seeing the Sun dissappearing under the horizon, Jaraiya carried his new student to her home, having learned where she lived from the third.  
As he lay her in her bed, he made himself a promise. This time, he would not lose his student. He would not allow Naru to die.

The next few days were spent much the same. In the mornings she trained with Kishi to master her wings, in the afternoons she trained with Jaraiya until she dropped.  
And every day, the final exam of the chunin exams was drawing nearer. The month was flying by, quickly becoming the happiest month of her life.  
Every weekend, she spent the day with Kiba. Sometimes they would go for a picnic, sometimes they went swimming, other times they walked around and talked.  
But all good times must come to an end, and this month was no exception. Finally, there was only a week until the exam, and Naru was training with Jaraiya, trying to complete the second part of creating her own jutsu.

**"Kit, you've been working too hard, relax a little."** Kyu scolded when the third ball of chakra exploded in her hands, knocking her back several feet. "I relax on the weekends." She argued.  
**"And the rest of the week you drive yourself into the ground."** He pointed out. As much as he admired her for never giving up, she was going to kill herself with all this training. **"Look, your not going to create a new jutsu in a week, so relax a little and review everything else."**  
She would still be training but nothing would blow up in her face at least. That was a plus.  
Kyubi was certain his student would not die in battle or in childbirth, oh no, she was going to die in training.

Normally Naru would have continued with her training as though Kyu had never spoken, but Kiba had much the same thoughts as the old fox.  
"Naru, your going to kill yourself at this rate." He commented after moving out of the shadow of a tree. "Besides, Akamaru and I want you to come by our place."  
"Your place?" She repeated, unsure if they were referring to the Inuzuka compound. "Yeah, I know we were supposed to keep it a secret and all, but everyone in my family can smell your scent on me. So now my mom's ordered me to bring you over so she can talk to you or something."  
Having never been in this position before, Naru had no idea wether she should go or not. The animalistic instincts, to fight or flee, were beginning to raise their heads. Did she go and meet the head of the Inuzukas? Or did she run away?  
Well, she had never been one for running in the first place. "Lead the way!" She said confidently.

However by time they had reached the compound, Naru was considering turning tail and running for all she was worth. Kiba didn't bother knocking and immediatly opened the door and walked inside, followed closely by Naru.  
"Mom?" He called, Akamaru barked. "Um, I brought Naru like you asked!"  
"We're in the main hall!" A gruff voice answered.  
"Come on." Kiba commanded, suddenly more serious than Naru had ever seen him before. Akamaru jumped out of Kiba's jacket and began walked by his side.  
Following some animal instinct, Naru kept her head raised high, despite the half urge to bow her head. She would not let them think her weak, she would show them she was strong.

Inside the main hall was every member of the Inuzuka clan, even the animals were given seats of honor, some could even talk.  
Tsume, the clan head, was standing in the center of the room, her face was in a permanant scowl as she eyed the girl who was dating her son.  
"Naru Uzumaki, you and Kiba have been seeing eachother a lot lately, and yet we have not gotten any notice of this." She pointed out.  
Kiba moved to the side, so Naru was now in full view of the entire clan. "I will ask this once, what is your relationship with my son?" She asked, following clan protocal.  
"Kiba and I have been seeing eachother since just before the chunin exams began, and while I am not sure yet if he and I will ever marry, I do care for him, and I hope he cares for me also." Naru said mechanically, knowing what was expected. They expected her to be servile, as a woman in their clan was supposed to be with their mate. But then again, she always had denounced the expectations of others, it was a favorite past time of hers.

Tsume had to admit, she was impressed with the girl's steadiness. She also had an animal's kindred spirit, she was kind, caring, and she was a force to be reckoned with on the battle field. She could always be counted on, wether it was to kill enemy ninja, or to protect the pups at home, this girl would not give up until she'd done it.  
Just as she had risen to head of the clan, so too could this pup, what with her strength. "I like you pup." She announced, feeling everyone in the room relax slightly at her words. "Kiba you best be careful, don't want this little pup taking your spot as heir do ya?"  
Everyone was soon laughing, Kiba's expression relaxed and Naru positively beemed at him.

Another hurdle jumped, Naru, Kiba, and Akamaru left to go and spend the rest of the day together. There was officialy six days until the chunin exam finals.  
Naru could only be described as ready.

/LINE\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
LC; Whew, it took me long enough!  
Naruto; Yeah, it took like three days!  
Sasuke; I don't think another chapter has ever taken this long.  
LC; It's not my fault! Blame the man who invented school for existing!  
Naruto; Yeah, all that bookwork, it's a miracle you could find the time at all!  
LC; Right! Anyway, time for a sneak peek at chappie 11! Next time on a Kunoichi's tail, The chunin exams begin again! Will Naru come out on top? Will Gaara's forces be vanquiched? Will Oro-teme drive poor Naru up the wall?  
Who the Hell knows? I DO! You will have to wait and find out! Now review like you mean it!


	11. Chapter 11

LC; YAY for winter break! YAY for snow! Now with a bow, it's time go!  
Naruto; Why must you always say something that rhymes?  
LC; Cause, I say so!  
Naruto; Uh-huh. *Rolls eyes*  
LC; For that disrespect, I sentence you to three years without ramen!  
Naruto;...  
LC; How do you plea?  
Naruto;*Explodes*  
LC; Huh, so that's what happens when you say he can't have ramen for three years. *Goes into closet to get replacement Naruto*  
Disclaimer; If I owned Naruto, the world would explode from overexposure to pure awesomeness! *Kishimoto cries in corner, knowing he could never bring Naruto up to my level of awesome*

Chapter 11, The Chunin exam vs. Naru.

Six days, the various people fighting in the exams rested their bodies and reviewed what they already knew. Naru herself practiced her katas until her hands blistered.  
Sakura came over on the last day to make sure she looked her best the next day. "Come on Naru, everyone's gonna be there!" Sakura argued. "We're gonna primp you pretty until every guy in that stadium is blinded!"  
Secretly, Naru enjoyed being with her friend and indulging in herself every once and a while.

That night however, she was unable to sleep at all. After trying every method she possibly could, she gave up and lay staring up at the ceiling.  
"So much for a good night's sleep." She sighed tiredly, unable to close her eyes.  
Around two in the morning, she fell into an uneasy sleep, plauged with nightmares she had not had in a while. Come to think of it, she hadn't had one since becoming a genin. How strange.

When the Sun rose, Naru had already had a nice warm shower and was enjoying a wonderful rameny breakfast. After consuming mind blowing amounts of noodles in less than ten minutes, she began debating on how to tie up her hair.  
"If Anko's there she'll flip about my pig tails, but I don't like having it loose or in a ponytail." She argued with herself. After several more minutes in debate, she came up with a compromise. "I know! I'll wear it in a low pony tail tied at the neck!"  
After doing so, she inspected herself in the mirror. Though her clothes weren't flashy or revealing, she knew she looked good.

The new hair style looked pretty good on her, but then she realised it could get in the way when she tried dodging multiple weapons at one time.  
In the end, she settled on pig tails, if only because she was used to fighting with them. That decided, she glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly 8:30, time to go if she wanted to get there on time.  
She grinned and ran out the door, locking it behind her. It was time to ace a test!

At the arena, she met up with Sasuke and Sakura, who were both standing looking up at the stands. "Hey guys." Naru greeted. "What's the competition look like?"  
"Pretty tough opponents all around." Sakura admitted, feeling a little uncertain about her own strength when faced with theirs. "What do you think the chances are of all of us becoming chunin?"  
Naru stopped to think about it logically. "To be honest, we'd have to impress several important people to become chunin. The fact that all three of a squad got in together should work in our favor." She explained. "So if we give it our all, I think the chances are pretty good!"  
Gekko looked around and saw everyone was there, he then began to bring out a piece of paper.

"Alright, everyone study this paper." He ordered, toying with the senbon in his mouth. "On it is who you'll be fighting in this tournament."  
The match ups were as follows.  
Naru vs. Neji, first match.  
Temari vs. Shikamaru, second match.  
Sakura vs. grass nin, third match.  
Sasuke vs. Gaara, fourth match.  
Kankuro vs. Sound nin, fifth match.

"Alright, now everyone except for Naru and Neji, please move up to the viewing platform." Gekko requested. Naru glanced at the Hyuga prodigy, the one who had beaten on Hinata like a drum, yelling about how fate could not be changed.  
Oh yeah, this boy was on Naru's hit list.  
She was finally going to smack some sense into that sealed head of his. "Begin!" Gekko cried, jumping away at the same time.

Neji shifted into the Hyuga family stance, while Naru did not move. At first he thought she simply didn't have a style, she just attacked at random. After all, this was the dead last he was thinking about. Fate had decided she would lose the moment he was chosen as her opponent.  
"Aren't you going to attack?" He taunted smugly. "Or have you given up?"  
"Sorry, I don't know the meaning of giving up." She retorted. "No, your gonna get the fight of your life."  
Without further ado, she drew out a scroll from her sleeve. "And it begins now."  
Nicking her thumb, she drew a symbol on the scroll, a puff of smoke revealed she had unsealed a sickle and chain. "Now then, ready to lose?" She taunted happily.

To his surprise, instead of swinging the wieght, she began swinging the sickle around her head. Was she merely that incomptent, or was this a special style he didn't know about? While Tenten only ever talked about weapons, she hardly ever went into detail about styles themselves.  
"You ready Hyuga?" She asked, charging in without an answer. "Cause it's about time for you to see what a failure can do!"  
With a great war cry, Naru caught him off guard by veering to the side at the last second and tossing the wieght at his legs.  
He knew if the chain encircled him he wouldn't be able to fight, that left one option. "Rotation!" He cried, enacting the Hyuga family special one hundred percent defense move.

The chain bounced off and Naru skidded to a halt ten metres away. "Rotation." She whispered, stunned that he could master it in a month. "I gotta admit, I'm glad I wasn't the only one working their arse off to master a new technique." She commented, hoping to offset him.  
"Well then, whip out this technique." Neji challenged. "Or are you bluffing? After all, your the failure of the academy. You only got here through luck." Her grin dissappeared as she listened to him. "A failure will be just that forever, a failure. You can not change your destiny. Your fate was decided the moment you were born."  
She bowed her head now, trying to hide the frustration evident on her face, Neji smirked as he smelled his victory. "No one can escape their fate. It's foolish to try otherwise."  
Her shoulders were beginning to shake now, as though she was crying. "Aw, did I awaken you to the cruelty of life?" Neji growled, his victory had always been assured.

Without warning, Naru burst into laughter. "AHAAHHAHAHAAA!" She roared. "That's rich! You can't change your fate! Geez, and I thought Sasuke was bad when he still had his superiority complex!" Neji's eyes were narrowed dangerously.  
Here was this failure, laughing at him! She was about to lose and she laughed!  
"What is there to laugh about?" He demanded seriously. "You who has never known such pain can laugh, even when your about to lose?"  
She stopped laughing then, surprising him with her iron like control and the KI suddenly rolling off of her. "You speak of pain, do you know what kind of pain Hinata goes through every day?"  
What was she driving at? Hinata was a weakling! He had proven that when he defeated her during the preliminaries!  
"She feels she is weak, her own father cares more for her younger sister than for her." Naru continued, barely keeping the KI at a reasonable level. "As for you, Hinata has always looked up to you. She fought, for your respect. That's all she wanted, and yet you called her weak for something she had no control over!"

"Besides that, I thought that your fate was to protect Hinata! Not beat her to a bloody pulp on the ground!" Neji's eyes widened as he realised what she was implying. Did this care free idiot know about the seal?  
"That's right Neji, I know about the curse of the branch family." She said solemnly, reading his thoughts as if it were a page in a book. "I know about your father as well. I know lots of things I probably shouldn't."  
No, she couldn't know that! It was impossible!  
"And I gotta say Hyuga, that branch or not, you can change who you are." She said with absolute finalty. "After all, I was the dead last, and now, I'm going to beat the Hyuga prodigy!"  
While he was distracted, she drew out some kunai with tags attached. "Take this!"  
He barely managed to begin rotating in time to dodge the blow.

He activated his byakugan and watched as she made ten clones. She's going to use the same techique she used on that Kishi boy, but I know it's weakness.  
He destroyed clone after clone until only one Naru was left. "I found you." He said cockily.  
He rushed up and striked the Naru's chakra point in her elbow. He smirked as he pushed her away by hitting her in the stomache with his other hand. When she fell to the ground, he turned to the ref. "Call it, she'll be foolish to get up again." He said, turning away to walk to the stands.  
His byakugan suddenly activated again as he sensed several senbon flying towards him. He rotated until they all lay on the ground in a perfect circle around him. "What?" Neji could not believe his eyes.

"Don't turn your back on your opponent!" Naru chided him. "It'll come back to kick you in the arse!" She vanished in a poof of smoke, leaving the arena supposedly empty but for him and Gekko. "Where'd she go?" He asked aloud, searching for her chakra signature. It seemed to have vanished though.  
"What's wrong?" A voice asked from behind him. "Can't find me?"  
Problem was, when he turned around no one was there, and his byakugan coudln't pick her up anywhere. "Aw, can't your special eyes find me?"  
Something was strange about her voice, it seemed far away, but she had to be in the arena. He looked around but couldn't see anyone, no matter which direction he turned.  
"Up here!" He looked up obediantly, to see a falling Naru, holding her naginata pointed down at his head. He barely dodged the devistating blow. "How did you do that?" He asked.  
"Simple, I jumped!" She explained coyly, not wanting to reveal her secret yet.

Neji knew he had to end this quickly, before she got a lucky hit in. "It's over now." He stated calmly, byakugan flaring. "Your in range. Gentle fist style; Sixty four palms!"  
Before Naru could move, she was struck sixty four times, one for each chakra point on her body. She coughed up blood and flew back with the force of the blows. "It's over, your lucky to be breathing." He commented. "Once a failure, always a failure."  
He turned to go, but once again turned back around to a startling sight. There Naru stood, except for the blood dribbling from her mouth, completely unharmed.  
"I told you, I don't know the meaning of giving up." She grinned.

"Give up already!" Neji cried. "You can't even mold chakra, how do you suppose to win?" He regretted his words as soon as she began to grin like that. It was a grin that promised pain to the object of her thoughts.  
"Neji, I am going to win, how many times do I have to say that?" She chuckled, putting together the makings of a plan. 'Kyu, lend me some chakra would you?' She heard the old fox chuckling and started to feel the demonic chakra coursing through her veins.  
"Let's finish!" She cried, using her amazing speed to get behind him and round house kick him fifty feet away. "What's wrong? Can't keep up? Don't tell me your giving up?"  
He growled and climbed back to his feet. "I can not lose to you." He stated clearly. "Neji, I got news for you!" Naru growled, starting to get a little ticked off. "Your not the only one who deals with pain every day!" She drew a simple kunai and charged him as he pulled out his own. When the two clashed, Neji started to spin.

A great explosion rocked the stadium as the two genin were thrown apart. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw Neji climbing out of his crater.  
As Neji looked down at the unconcious girl in the crater, he thought he had won. "A failure will always be a failure, you can't change that." As he turned away, thinking on how close she had come to beating him, he heard something. Well, he and everyone else in a fifty mile radius.  
"A FAILURE AM I?" The ground burst as Naru flew out of it, fist raised high. Neji was knocked into the air like a ragdoll, as Naru looked only a little worse for wear. When Neji fell, he found that he was unable to rise again. "How?"  
"You should know something Neji." Naru said, walking to where he lie. "A failure, can rise to be Hokage. A prodigy, can fall to become no better than the run of the mill people you see everyday. The difference, is a need to prove oneself." She explained. "You can change too, because unlike me, you were never a failure. You were never helpless." This last even Neji did not hear, for she spoke it as the faintest of breaths.

The crowd cheered as Gekko announced Naru Uzumaki the winner. She air punched and cheered herself. Even after that beating, literally, into the ground, she was full of energy.  
She almost ran up the steps to the viewing platform for the participants. "Hey Shikamaru, you better put on a good fight!" She warned her lazy friend. "Maybe I should just give up." Shikamaru muttered, not wanting to fight another girl. However he was more afraid of the girl next to him, so he chose not to give up, yet. He walked down the stairs casually, taking his sweet time to go and get his butt handed to him on a fan.  
(I will not write out this fight cause we all know how it goes)

With Temari the winner by default, the next match came down to begin fighting. It was Sakura vs. Grass nin, who would win? The pink haired kunoichi? Or the grass nin who hardly said anything?  
Sakura was still nervous, even after what Naru had told her. She couldn't deny it. 'I've been training so hard, but am I good enough?' She pondered anxiously, waiting for the signal to begin. "Begin!" The proctor cried, jumping backward as he did so.  
Without waiting for her opponent, Sakura began throwing kunai with little sacks attached to them. The bags burst open, revealing thousands of little exploding tags, curtesy of Naru.  
She threw one more kunai, activating the tag. She jumped back to avoid the blast, but the grass nin was caught up in it, she was certain.  
To her surprise, when the smoke cleared, the grass nin was gone!

Without a reason why, Sakura jumped into the air. Narrowly evading the grass nin's grasp as he popped out of the ground. Before he could move, Sakura launched several more explosive tags at him.  
"Oh no!" He cried, knowing he could not dodge them this time. However, these were some of Naru's speial tags, so instead of just blowing him to bits, (AW!) the tags exploded into thousands of little razor sharp leaves. He yelled as they ut him again and again, only stopping when he had falled to the ground in an effort to protect himself.  
He got up again, warily eyeing the little leaves. "You little wench, I'll get you for that!" He growled and started making handsigns.  
Sakura made a few signs as well, so when the blast of mud hit her, she turned into smoke and was replaced with a log.

They fought for a little longer, but Sakura began to get the upper hand with the many assorted tags Naru had given her for the fight.  
Finally, Gekko stepped in to stop the fight before the grass nin got himself killed. "Winner, Sakura Haruno!" He announced.

Next up was Sasuke and Gaara. Sasuke went down right away, but Gaara stood there by the railing a moment longer. He turned to the side a little and met Naru's eyes.  
Without either saying a word, Gaara walked down the stairs, ever so slowly.

As the two began to fight, the entire stadium watched, sitting on the edge of their seats. Just as Sasuke used a chidori to pierce Gaara's sand, explosions were heard all over the village.  
Strange feathers began falling from out of no where. Naru and Sakura knew it as a genjutsu, and quickly released it.  
When that was done, they climbed up the stairs to find their sensei and find out what was going on.

When they got there, they had to dodge the air born body of some sound nin. Kakashi moved in front of them to give them some protection. "You two, wake Shikamaru. I need you to listen carefully, this is the first A rank mission since the land of wave."  
Sakura nodded and went to where Shikamaru lay, while Naru gave her cover. Kakashi summoned Pakun, and explained that their mission was to follow after Gaara and stop whatever it was they were planning.  
Sasuke had already left, so they would have to follow him.

When the trio and the dog were ready, the ran after their comrade. Naru perhaps was the one most worried for her friend and teammate. 'Something's off about that Gaara! He's a jinchuriki! I know it!' She thought ferverently.  
"Ease off Kit, your scaring your friends with that KI and your enemy will detect you in no time if you aren't careful." Kyu advised, though on the inside he was seething as well.  
She checked herself and found she was letting off an amazing amount of KI. 'Oops.' She chided herself silently, reeling the KI in.

As they kept moving, Pakun revealed they were being tailed by many ninja. "Figures, they probably don't want us interfering with their plans." Naru muttered darkly.  
To everyone's surprise, Shikamaru offered to stay behind and take care of them. "You sure?" Naru asked, ready to stay behind in his stead. "Yeah, you go on ahead. I'll catch up." He said, stopping on a branch as he watched the two kunoichi and the dog keep jumping from branch to branch. "You'd better Shikamaru!" Naru warned him.

They kept running, hoping to catch up to Sasuke at the least. Naru had deactivated the genjutsu, allowing her to use her senses to the best of her ability and to conserve chakra.  
'Sasuke, you better be alive when we get to you!' She thought. 'Otherwise, once I join you in the other world, you'll wish you were never born!'

Sakura too was worried for her teammate, but she knew he was strong. After all their time together, she had come to realise her 'love' of Sasuke had been nothing more than a crush. She saw him as a brother, but no longer as a lover.  
Still, she knew she had to hurry. Three on one were never good odds, especially not when the three were the best in their village and most likely above chunin level already!  
Glancing at her fellow female ninja, she knew Naru didn't have any feelings for Sasuke either. No, they were only two sisters, trying to save their brother from a horrible fate.  
She could only hope they'd get there in time.

They bipassed a fight nearby and kept going, sure they were getting closer with each step they took. Pakun himself was nervous, he could smell the demonic chakra off the sand boy from there!  
'I hope these two will be enough to subdue him' He prayed feverently.

Finally, Sasuke came into view. He was unconcious on a tree branch and bleeding heavily, but standing in front of him, defending him from Gaara, was Hinata.  
She fought as hard as she could to protect the Uchiha boy. For as long as she could remember, she had secretly watched Sasuke train by himself, never getting help from anyone.  
While she was invisible to most, and wished it was not so, Sasuke was the opposite. He was seen by everyone, and yet, wished he could just hide from it all.

"Why do you protect him?" A transformed Gaara asked. "What is he to you?" Hinata's face betrayed no fear, she was determinned to protect him!  
"He is my comrade!" She said, charging with her byakugan blazing for the jinchuriki. Naru and Sakura used this as a chance to get to Sasuke. "Sakura, tend to his wounds." Naru said. "I'll go and help Hinata-chan."  
Sakura nodded as Naru ran off, making twenty clones as she did so. Sakura had faith in her friends, she knew they would win.

In the meantime, she treated Sasuke's wounds, and was relieved to find they were not as bad as they looked. He would be fine.  
As she watched the monster Gaara had changed into fight her friends without breaking a sweat, she began to grow more worried for her fellow kunoichi.

/LINE TIME\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
LC; Alright! Another master piece to add to my collection!  
Naruto; This is hardly a master piece.  
LC; I hereby ban you from ICHARAKU'S!  
Naruto; NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
LC; YAY! Now for sneak peeks! Next time, on a Kunoichi's tail, Naru has to find a way to defeat Gaara! But can she deal the finishing blow, when he is so like her? Can she bring herself to destroy someone who understands her pain? Even I don't know until it's written down!  
Review or we'll never know! DO IT! 


	12. Chapter 12

LC; OKAY! I can't think of anything that rhymes with twelve. Oh wait, let's dwelve into chapter twelve!  
Naruto; Why are you obsessed with rhymes?  
LC; Cause only orange doesn't have one.  
Naruto; That doesn't answer my question.  
LC; Don't feel too bad. You have a block of wood for a brain so you can't grasp anything to complicated.  
*Silently thanks Inuyasha*  
Naruto;...Huh?  
LC; See! On to the chappie!  
Disclaimer; Damnit! The force is strong with Kishimoto! I don't own naruto, inuyasha, or star wars, cause if I did, they would merge to form, ninja demon wars! And it would put all other t.v. shows out of business!

Chapter 12, Two sides of the same coin?

Naru knew Hinata couldn't keep fighting, she hadn't fully recovered from her fight with Neji during the prelims yet. When Hinata collapsed and began coughing up blood, Naru made a clone carry her to Sakura and then protect all three of them.  
That was the idea anyway. Gaara noticed the three genin over on that branch with the clone and he launched his sand arm at them. Hinata was unconcious next to sasuke, so only Sakura and the clone got pinned to the tree.  
The clone dissappeared, letting Naru know what it felt like to be on the recieving end of the sand arm. "Who are these people to you?" He asked for the second time that day.

"Who are they?" She repeated angrily, secretly glad for the respite. "They're my friends is what they are! If you lay so much as another finger on them, I'll pulverize you!"  
He smirked evily and pushed harder with his arm, causing Sakura to yell in pain and pass out. "Sakura!" Naru gasped. She turned back to the red headed jinchuriki.  
Her ears and tail were still visible, and Gaara was wondering if she was transforming as well. "Gaara of the Sand, I am Naru Uzumaki of the Leaf!" She called to him seriously. "Like you, I am a jinchuriki! But unlike you, my reason for living, IS TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE OF MY VILLAGE WITH EVERYTHING I HAVE!"

Naru fought with all she had in her thirteen year old body. Gaara had to admit, this girl was strong. And now that he focused, he knew she wasn't even using the demon within her's chakra. This was all her own power, and she was starting to make him work.  
When they seperated again, Gaara spoke. "You fight for others, why? You must know of the way they stare at our kind. The looks of hatred and fear." He growled.  
"I do know." She admitted calmly. "I know the pain of being alone, of being hated for something I had no say in, of fighting to prove my very existence!"  
He could hardly believe his transformed ears! This girl did want what he did, to prove she existed, and yet, she went about it completely differently. "Proving your existence while being held back by others, is impossible." He said.  
"Your wrong." She was looking down at her feet and shaking.

"They don't hold me back." She persisted, her voice shaking. "They don't hold me back, they, they push me forward!" She brought her self eye level with him, her purple and slitted eyes glistening with unshed tears. "To love only oneself, is a life I would not wish upon anyone!"  
She leapt forward and began giving him a barrage of punches and kicks. He then sent his sand. "Sand coffin!" He cried, completely swallowing her in the sand. **"Kit, summon me."** Kyu ordered, he was sick and tired of this brat.  
"Right!" She had already begun making the hand signs. She nicked her thumb, then yelled. "Summoning jutsu!"  
And with a giant puff of smoke, there stood the nine tailed fox, the Leaf's greatest nightmare, the size of a large bear. **"Hop on!"** He growled joyiously. It wasn't everyday she summoned him out this big. Usually he only came out the size of a cat.

As the duo launched into the sky, the one tailed racoon was fully released as Gaara's eyes closed. **"We have to wake up the medium!"** Kyu cried, firing fire ball after fire ball with his awesome tails. They came in handy.  
"Just get me close." Naru told him, unsealing a sickle and chain.  
As he did so, she swung the wieght until it smacked Gaara upside the head. "Direct hit!" She cried victoriously. The demon roared his frustration at having to leave so soon as Gaara glared holes into her head. "Aw sorry, did I hurt you?" She asked tauntingly. "Your a very annoying girl." He commented.  
"And your a very lonely little boy." She replied easily, reeling in the wieght of the chain. "Now that we got that straight, how about we get back to fighting?"

**"Kit, I can hold him still if you make me bigger."** Kyu pointed out. At the size he was currently at, it was like he was a fly to the giant racoon. "Good point." Naru began routing more chakra into his form, making him grow. With a start she realised she didn't have enough chakra left to make him big enough. "We're going to have to do a combined transformation!" She cried, already molding the chakra. **"Do it Kit!"** He bellowed.  
With another puff of smoke, she had transformed them both into a giant nine tailed fox!  
"Time to get to work!" They yelled.

As Kyubi grabbed hold of the racoon, Naru jumped from the transformation and ran towards Gaara. His sand attacked her, held her back just inches before she would have decked him again.  
"No way! Not when I'm this close!" She cried, bringing her head down with enough force to knock Kyubi out. Both demons vanished and the two were flung apart, to land in seperate trees.  
They were two sides of the same coin, but one had to land on top, one had to win this battle! "Gaara!" She yelled her warcry.  
"Uzumaki!" Gaara responded, jumping to meet her with his own punch.

The two hit eachother at the same time, with the same force. And as they fell side by side to the ground, they could not help but wonder who would land on top.  
Because when you flip a coin, one side always lands on the bottom.

Gaara landed on his back, and Naru on her stomache. When he found he could not move, he began to pray the girl could not either.  
To his utter horror, the girl began to stir. "Damn, that hurt like a bitch." She groaned, lifting her head to look into Gaara's eyes. "Your strong, I'll give you that."  
She began to wiggle her way over to him, knowing if she didn't Sakura would never get free. "No, stay away from me!" Gaara cried. Was this fear? Was this what it felt like?  
To his surprise, his outburst seemed to have done the trick. Naru was now still, with her head bent to the ground, her nose lying in the dust.  
She was trying to hide her tears.

When she did look up, her eyes were still shining, but the actual tears had halted. "I know what it's like, in that dark and lonely place. To not be of use to anyone. To have to struggle to be seen." She said quietly. "I know that pain! But, now I'm not so, alone. I have friends, people I trust. People I love. (YAY Kiba!) And, I won't let, anyone, hurt, any of them!" Now her eyes were sharp with pain and anger. "Gaara, even if I must kill you, I will save them!"  
Before she could move on to her wiggling, Hinata and Sasuke appeared by her side. "It's alright, Naru-chan." Hinata consoled her. "The sand broke away and Sakura's going to be just fine."  
Naru's expression immediatly relaxed and all of her KI simply vanished. "That's good to hear." She murmured before falling asleep.

One word ran through Gaara's head as his siblings carried him away. 'Love? Is that what makes her so strong?' He pondered.  
He raised his head slightly, to gaze at his siblings. "Something wrong Gaara?" Kankuro asked.  
"Kankuro, Temari, I'm sorry." He muttered, closing his eyes and hoping they would leave him be. Temari and Kankuro exchanged a glance before looking at their younger brother.  
"It's alright." Kankuro finally sighed.

Back at the Leaf, great sorrow wrenched the hearts of every man, woman, and child in the village. The third Hokage, Sarutobi, was dead.

The next day, despite her injuries, Naru went to the funeral. As she placed the small white flower on the grave, her thoughts wandered to her memories of the Old Man.  
"Thanks." She murmured, before rejoining the long line of shinobi who had come to pay their respects. In honor of the occasion, her hair had been let down. The wind and rain toyed with it, as though trying to tempt a smile on this gloomy day.  
Konohamaru stood by her side, crying. Without thinking about it, she kneeled down and hugged him, allowing him to cry into her shoulder.

Later that day, she and Kiba sat alone in a tree on the outskirts of the village, near the wall. "Naru, you going to be okay?" He was worried for his girlfriend.  
"I'll be fine." She assured him. "I'm just thinking, about the ones precious to me."  
"I hope me and Akamaru are counted in that number!" He joked, glad she seemed to be getting back to normal. "Don't worry!" She laughed happily, though both were still dressed in their funeral clothes. "Both you and Akamaru are on the top of the list! Your just below Akamaru actually."  
Kiba spluttered while trying to come up with something to say, when he saw she was laughing again. Akamaru was also barking strangely, his own dog was laughing at him? Talk about loyalty.  
"I'm only kidding Kiba." She reassured the poor depressed boy. "Your at the top."

The next day, she found herself sitting on the window sill of her bedroom window. **"Kit, someone's coming."** Kyu alerted her. When she looked down at the ground from her perch, she recognised the flowing white hair of the toad sage.  
"Yo pervy sage!" She called down cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"  
He jumped up to her window and she let him in. "Why, this is where all the beautiful women live!" He flattered.  
"Aw, ain't you sweet?" She replied, pretending to hide a nonexistent blush behind her hands. Without any sign of warning, her hands flew away and she smacked the old pervert right out her window. "Come back when you stop being a pervert!" She called, closing the window.

Five minutes later, someone knocked on her front door. Congratulating herself on a prank well played, she took her camera, and when the door swung open, got a snap shot of the hand imprint on his cheek.  
"I amaze myself." She gloated, placing the picture under her shirt, where she hoped it would be safe. He may have been an old man, but he was a _dirty_ old man.

After she let him inside, he told her he wanted her to come with him on a mission. "We need to bring back one of the sannin, Tsunade." He finished, taking a sip of the tea she had made. It actually wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, even though no one had taught her how to make it, or cook for that matter.  
"Tsunade has been chosen for the title of fifth Hokage." He watched her carefully, knowing full well her dream of being the first hokage. "Well, guess I'll miss out o being the first female hokage." She muttered thoughtfully. "But hey, maybe I'll learn some new jutsu from her!"

The very next day, they set out to search for the elusive Tsunade. Along the way, Jaraiya began thinking of Naru's abilities and possible flaws. Her kenjutsu was almost master level, she knew a pretty goof arsenal of jutsu, and her genjutsu wasn't half bad. Her only real flaw, as far as he could see, was she was too used to fighting alone.  
All of her strageties were made with the thought that she would be alone during a battle, not with allies. And if there was more than one enemy, she would have her word cut out for her.  
As he tried pondering a way to fix this, Naru continued skecthing in her notebook.

'Damn, and I thought making ice tags was difficult.' She fumed, after crossing out another mistake on the formula. Who knew combining wind and earth would be so hard? Sure they were polar opposites, but when mixed the right way, they were supposed to be able to create sand storms.  
That kind of tag would be useful for quick get aways, and she could almost feel that they would end up saving her one day. Now, if only she could get the two to work without blowing off her eyebrows...again.

Somehow, without her noticing, Jaraiya had slowed his pace to walk slightly behind her and peep over her shoulder. Sadly, being in such close proximity to the little lumps on her chests activated his sixth sense. 'Oh no, my perv sense is tingling!' He could _almost_ see through the jacket and shirt, right down to her little pink bra.  
Of course, with that girl's love for orange, the bra could very well be orange or even red. As he contemplated the possible colouring of Naru's bra, his eyes wandered to the notepad, his original target.

His jaw very nearly hit the dog poop on the ground when he saw what she was attempting to do. 'She's putting two elements together to make one.' He surmized. 'I heard rumors of her using ice tags in the chunin exams, but this is ridiculus!'  
He was so stunned, his sixth sense had turned itself off, and he was no longer interested in what color her bra is.

Naru was unaware of Jaraiya moving behind her. However, when he began thinking about her bra, her sixth sense activated. "Oh no! My pervert sense is tingling!' (The perv sense, is when a pervert gets close to a woman's boobs. The pervert sense is when a girl realizes the pervert is close by and thinking about their underwear. Just thought I'd clear that up!)  
Feeling a sense of dread and anger, she stopped drawing on the notepad and turned her head slightly.

However, her pervert sense seemed to be diminishing. His eyes weren't on her bum, or bust, but the notepad! 'Huh. Maybe I need my pervert sense checked?' She shrugged and continued the very hard calculation.

Eventually, they came to rest at a local shrine. "Why don't you go pay homage to the shrine's diety while I prepare our lunches?" Jaraiya asked, secretly hoping to look through the elusive notepad.  
"Okay!" She said cheerfully, dropping her bag onto the ground and tossing the notebook on top. She ran up the steps and clapped her hands to pray.  
When she finished doing that, she began to play with the big bells. Ding Dong! They sounded, deep and low.

Jaraiya watched, a chuckle escaping his lips, as his student began acting like the kid she really was. 'It's nice for her to act like a kid sometimes. Better than that seriousness she uses around those close to her. It may be who she really is, but no kid should be that serious all the time, or have to act happy-go-lucky all the time either.' He pondered, already taking out the notepad from the pile, along with the lunches.  
As he looked through it, he saw that this girl had clearly inherited her father's nack for seals.

When they ate lunch together, Jaraiya began wondering what destiny had in store for her. "What do you think you'll do for your life, other than become Hokage of course?" He asked her.  
She looked up from the rice ball she was currently biting into. "Huh?" She asked, swallowing the mouthful of food. "I guess, I'll forge a path for others like me to follow."  
He liked her answer, it seemed similar to his own dreams actually. His dreams to end this senseless blood shedfilled world known as the path of the shinobi.

"Hey pervy sage," Naru began. "Why did you ask me to come with you?" She asked finally. He looked up from his lunch in surprise. "Hm?" He muttered, stupified. "I guess because you remind me of your father! And also, because I want to teach you some new jutsu."  
At the magic word 'jutsu' he had Naru's full attention. "You know a lot of jutsu already, but hey! The more the merrier!" Naru was now to excited to hear what kind of jutsu she'd be learning to continue eating. A reason Kyu never spoke to her about new jutsus during lunch. She'd forget to eat said lunch.

The next day, they came upon a village in the middle of it's spring festival. Jaraiya saw Naru's look of amazement, and remembered she had probably never been to a festival. The villagers wouldn't take too kindly to the demon child being there. He sighed sadly, thinking how Minato would've reacted to that.  
'Minato, if you could see your daughter's life, would you have let the fox destroy the village? Or would you have done it yourself?' He asked himself, not really expecting an answer.  
"He would have let the fox do it." Naru answered, scaring the wits out of him. "If he had let the village get destroyed at all, he would have let the fox do it."

"Gaki, why don't you go down and have some fun?" Jaraiya asked, a mishevious twinkle in his eye. She turned to look at him in surprise. "Are you sure?" She asked cautiously. She did want to go. And since no one here knew of her tenant, they wouldn't chase her away, would they?  
"Go on ahead!" He assured her. "You need to be a kid once in a while!"  
She smiled a 100 watt smile and ran down to the festivities. Jaraiya chuckled at how enthusiastic the normally serious girl could be.

Two hours later, Naru had eaten lots of carnival food and won various prizes. Her favorite of which, was a large stuffed fox with cute ears. She hummed softly to herself as she searched for the next game to play.  
"Hey cutie, you here for the festival?" Slipping into her mask like a fish into the water, she turned to see three young men, around fifteen standing just behind her.  
"Yeah I am!" They most likely didn't know she was a ninja, since she had stuck her headband into a jacket pocket so it wouldn't fall off during a particularly difficult game. "It's really fun here! I've never been to a festival before!" She giggled happily, hugging the fox protectively.  
"Come with us, we'll show you around!" One of them urged her.

On one hand, she had no proof they were after something from her, on the other, she didn't really want to go with them. Thinking back on how many people were present, she decided to accept.  
"Sure, thanks!" She replied, fingers itching for a kunai, if only to calm her nerves.  
"Follow me!" The ring leader ordered, putting a hand to her lower back to steer her to the village square.

The three boys began playing different games with her, each trying to win the grand prize of that stand. Naru won the shuriken game easily, and won a big bear plushie. "Aw!" She exclaimed happily. "So cute! Kawaii!"  
With her ability to see where she was going restricted with the many stuffed animals and what nots in her arms, she couldn't see the boys were steering her into a dark alley way.  
She could, however, hear the sounds of the many festival people dwindling, until it was more a pleasant hum, than an obnoxious roar.

"We haven't even gotten to the good part yet!" The boy announced eagerly. She lowered the toys to see where they were, and found herself staring at a brick wall. "We're about to start the real fun, alright cutie?"  
One of the boys knocked the prizes out of her hands and held her in a choke hold as the second boy brought out a knife and began to cut open her jacket.  
That was the last straw! As soon as the third boy began to feel her stomache, she flipped.

Vaulting backward, she got the first boy in a chokehold of his own, afterwards she wrapped a leg around one of his and tripped him up, to land on his nose, firmly breaking it.  
The second boy had recovered from his shock and lunged at her with the knife. She parried the amatuer move easily and used slight of hand to relieve the boy of his weapon, before elbowing his back, knocking the wind out of him.  
The third one, she threw the knife at, pinning him to the wooden wall behind him by the sleeve of his kimono.

"Next time your going to rape someone, make sure they aren't a kunoichi." She advised, bringing the headband out of her pocket. "The moment you called out to me on the streets, you ticked me off."  
Boy two had recovered yet again, this time when he lunged at her, it was for her legs to knock her down. Using her momentum, she twisted around and round house kicked the boy into the brick wall. "My name is Naru Uzumaki, and the next time I see you, pray that I've forgiven you for what you almost did!" She ordered, not really putting up an intimidating act since she had picked up all the plushies from the ground and was pouting slightly at how they had fallen in the mud.

When she met up with Jaraiya later and he asked what she'd done, she answered; "Hmm, not much! I met some nice boys who won me a lot of prizes though!" He failed to notice the satisfied gleam in her eye, or the mud on the toys, or the ripped jacket for that matter. He was too lost in his thoughts about how innocent and naive she was.  
'Ha, so innocent, doesn't realize the boys probably wanted to get in _bed_ with her!' He sighed inwardly.

/HA!HA!HA!HA!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
LC; I like this chapter!  
Naruto; Got to admit, not bad, not bad at all.  
Kiba; And I was in it more too!  
Akamaru; Bark bark!  
LC; YAY! Naru-chan beat Gaara, Jaraiya, and some perverts! What more could she beat up?  
Naruto; Orochimaru, for one.  
LC; Who knows? Maybe next time! *Eyes computer eagerly*  
Naruto; Just do the sneak peek thing.  
LC; OOOOOKAY! Next time on a Kunoichi's Tail! Naru meets the third sannin! How will the sannin react to seeing Naru, a girl so much like her own youthful self? (OH NO, I'm turning into GAI!) What about Shizune? And will Orochimaru get Naru? So many questions, so little time to type! We may not find out for a few days!  
Read and Review, and everything in between  
For the one, the only! Chapter thirteen!


	13. Chapter 13

LC; I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!...with my boyfriend.  
Naruto; I didn't know you had a boyfriend.  
LC; I've had a crush on him for like a year, and now he finally asked me out!  
Sasuke; Your still here why?  
LC; Cause the date isn't for another few hours.  
Naruto; Then why did you say you were late?  
LC;...cause I was watching Alice In Wonderland.  
Naruto & Sasuke;...  
LC; Don't dis the classics!  
Naruto; Whatever.  
LC; To crown the queen, we go to chapter thirteen! That rhymes, kinda.  
Disclaimer; *Kishimoto glares from torture chair he is strapped to* Give me Naruto! "NEVER!" Please? "NO!" Then I sentence you to death by awesome!

Chapter 13, I spy with my little eye...a sannin?

"Come on brat! How are you going to make a new jutsu if you can't master the second part?" Jaraiya taunted his exhausted student. "What happened to all that demonic stamina?"  
"I'll tell you where it went you old pervert." She growled menacingly from the ground. "It went to running after you and training like I was going to be killed if I didn't master this!"  
Jaraiya just chuckled and continued poking her with a stick. It was all just harmless fun, until his perv sense started tingling and he poked her boob.

They stared at the motionless stick for several seconds, until. "Pervy sage!" She shouted angrily, instantly smacking her sensei to the next town.  
**"Kit, I would sleep lightly if I were you."** Kyu suggested. No one, especially not an old man, was taking his student's virginity unless she wanted said man to have it.  
"Noted." Naru replied, planning on rigging a trap just to be safe.

When they found Jaraiya again, he was in a bar surrounded with women. And there sitting on the table, was Naru's empty froggy wallet.  
"Pervy Sage!" She cried desparingly. Jaraiya jumped and turned to see an absolutely fuming Naru. 'Maybe it was a bad idea to use her money.' He pondered as the heart broken girl picked up her wallet.  
"You spent, all my money, on your perverted ways!" She roared, launching an immediate attack on the defensless sage. "Have mercy!" He pleaded, hand over crotch in a desperate attempt to protect it from her rage.

When Naru was done, she almost couldn't recognize the now bald frog sage. "That's what happens when you steal my money." She told him, nursing her sore fist.  
Who knew that many punches would almost shatter her hand like that?

As the two came to another village where Tsunade was rumored to be, Naru finally managed to master the second phase of the training.  
"Yes! I did it!" Alerting everyone within fifty miles that she'd done something. "Good job brat, now just a few more steps and your jutsu will be perfect." Jaraiya said cheerily. He knew the last three steps were always the hardest and it had taken Minato three years to finally finish them.  
"Right!" She said eagerly. "What are they?"  
Kyubi was chuckling despite himself, give Naru some ramen, she'll love you, give Naru a new jutsu to master, she'll worship you. All those boys who left flowers and chocolates on her doorstep didn't have a chance.  
Only reason Kiba had any respect was because he was strong and Naru actually did like him.

"Okay, next, you have to do both step 1 and 2 at the same time, without blowing it all up in your face." Jaraiya explained patiently.  
She was about to continue the training when she realized they'd reached the next village already. "Well, I have to go do some research." Jaraiya announced, eyeing a pretty girl who was shooting him bedroom eyes. "I'll just get you a room in that hotel and see you later, alright?"  
"Whatever pervy sage." She said, noticing the same girl.

No sooner had Jaraiya left his student in her room, then there was a tapping on the window. It was a special code she and a long lost friend of her's had created several years ago, but she remembered every part.  
"Did he follow me here?" She asked herself, opening the window and taking a step back.  
Who other than Itachi Uchiha would be standing in her motel room? "Nice to see you too, Naru-san." He smiled, it was small, but it was definetly a smile!  
"So what do I owe the pleasure?" She asked him politely.

"It seems Orochimaru has confronted Tsunade about healing his arms." He always went straight to the point, no time for pleasantries. "What's more, the akutsuki is going to lay low for a while. This mission I am on is to kidnap you while your still weak. However, they intend to go into hiding right after."  
Naru slowly nodded her head in acceptance. "I can't wait for this chirade to end." She sighed sadly.  
"You and me both." Itachi nodded in defeat. He'd been ordered to kill his clan, then join akutsuki to work as a spy, talk about a crappy life.

Itachi left via window, leaving Naru and Kyu to their thoughts. **"Kit, how do you think Sasuke would react if you let slip why Itachi really killed his clan?"**  
Naru thought about it for a minute. "One of two things would happen. A; He doesn't believe me. Or B; he does believe me and forgives Itachi." It was as simple as that. Though he no longer actively sought power for revenge, he hadn't forgiven his brother by a long shot.  
Somewhere in the village, Sasuke sneezed as he continued running, trying to find his teammate before it was too late.

Four hours later, Naru was so bored she was considering blowing something up just for the heck of it. 'I'm turning into a pyromaniac.' She noticed inwardly.  
Not having anything better to do, she began to train in her mindscape with Kyu. **"Your still moving Kit."** Kyubi was training her to become a fox sage, she couldn't wait! Renewing her efforts to not move, she began training.  
**"Still the slightest quiver."** Kyu commented smugly. He'd placed a bet that she could never master not moving. Considering who he was dealing with, it could very well be the best bet of his life!  
(Seriously, how many people think Naru could ever sit still, perfectly still, for four hours?)

Her eyes snapped open when someone knocked on her door. Already knowing who it was, she sighed tiredly. "What's wrong pervy sage?" She called, pretending she thought it was Jaraiya. "She dump you already?"  
Opening the door, she gasped. Yep, none other than Itachi and some shark guy stood in front of the door. "Uh, sorry, I think you have the wrong room." She stuttered adorably, trying to close the door.  
Itachi grabbed the door with his hand and pushed it open. "Your coming with us." His voice was so monotonous it was annoying!  
"Um, sorry I'm not suppossed to talk to strangers." I told them, backing away slowly, hand itching for kunai or tags, or whatever the hell could be defined as pointy.

"Hey Itachi, it'll be troublesome if the kid tries running away." Sharky pointed out. "How bout I chop off her legs for good measure?"  
Um, no. Naru was very fond of her legs thank you very much. She didn't want them chopped off. Knowing Itachi, he wouldn't let him do that, but you never knew, besides, she had a part to play.  
"Um, better idea!" She told the shark guy with the huge sword. "I kick your butts, you run home crying, and we call it a day! Sound good?"  
"Sorry brat!" He said, raising his sword. Before he brought it down though, he triggred the trap Naru had rigged for Jaraiya. Meaning there was pink and orange paint, and many sparkles involved.

"What the hell is this?" Sharky roared, slipping and falling in the mess on the floor as sparkles rained from the sky. Naru sniggered, trying desperatly not to laugh at the pink and ornage S-rank missing nin in front of her, and failing. Miserably.  
"AHAHAHAHAAA!" She roared finally, giving up the fight and taking a quick snap shot of the incident. "Oh it hurts! Mercy! Oh it hurts!" She moaned, falling to the ground in fits of laughter.  
"You little brat I'm gonna KILL YOU!" He wasn't very intimidating now that he was also all sparkly. Upon seeing this, Naru burst into another set of laughs.  
"Oh, oh, can't breathe!" She gasped. "Need air!"

Itachi meanwhile, was making a mental note to get a copy of the picture later. His normally stoic face now was a grimace as he waged war on laughter. He wasn't cold hearted, but he rarely found anything funny, this was one of those rare things.  
Naru finally calmed herself down by imagining a naked Orochimaru on a cold day. Yeah, that could sober anyone up real quick.  
"Listen fish boy, maybe you should get cleaned up." She suggested, sniggering. "I mean, do you really want everyone to see you covered in paint and sparkles?" He had not seen the camera, thankfully, this meant she got to keep black mail stuff!  
Plus, how often would she get a chance to prank S-rank criminals?  
Yeah, not often! She would not let this oppurtunity pass her by!

He raised his sword again, but just as he began to bring it down, Naru dissappeared in a poof of smoke. "Up here!" Like a stupid idiot, he looked upward.  
Naru was squating down on the ceiling, and when he looked up, she sprayed him in the eyes with pepper spray!  
"GGGAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed in pain, dropping his sword. "ITACHI KILL THAT BRAT!"  
Itachi by now had regained control over his face and attacked the girl taking pictures on the ceiling.  
At one point, they knocked her out the door and into the hall. Didn't matter though, cause the only reason they'd caught her like that was so she could drop copies of the pictures in Itachi's pockests.

What she was not expecting, was to see a furious Sasuke with sharingan blazing standing in front of the stairs and gasping for breath. "Um, hey Sasuke." She must have looked a sight, upside down against the wall with her legs hanging down around her face.  
She got up again just as the shark guy charged out of the hotel room. The once serious face of the young Uchiha, turned to a smirking, sniggering one. "What are you laughing at brat!" Oh, he was not angry, he was pissed.  
Naru took this chance to throw some kunai at his front, while a clone snuck up behind him and safety pinned a kick me sign on his back, dispelling itself afterward, enveloping the shark dude in smoke.  
"And he was pink and orange and covered in sparkles, why?" Sasuke sniggered, unable to keep a straight face, but hey, at least he wasn't rolling on the ground in hysterics either!

"Um, he triggered a trap I'd set up for pervy sage?" She offered, making the seals for another few clones. "And then I blinded him with pepper spray, and stuck a kick me sign on his back?"  
Sasuke made a mental note never to make Naru angry, imagine if she got a picture of him looking like that! Oh, the humanity! "Well then, it's no wonder he's angry, no, pissed is the word I meant to say." He corrected himself absently.  
When the smoke cleared, it revealed the newest touch to this prank, flowers drawn with a permanant marker all over his face! Naru and Sasuke looked at him for a few seconds, then exchanged a look, then burst into laughter.  
Unable to resist, Naru brought her camera back out and took about ten snap shots. "I'm gonna make a fortune!" She cried all the while, poor Sharky (I forgot his name btw) was fuming now!  
Naru could actually see smoke climbing from his ears, and his blue face was turning red, fast.

(I'm not writing the rest, you know, the fight between Sasuke, Itachi, and the scene where Jaraiya comes in. I'm skipping straight to where Gai is about to leave for the Leaf village! Otherwise I won't finish!)  
"Well, I'll be going now my youthful friends!" Shouted the green beast of the Leaf with his hundred watt smile and good duy pose. "But before I go! I have a youthful present for the youthful flower that is Naru-chan! The beautiful flames of youth shall shine all the brighter with this youthful gift!"  
Jaraiya blinked. How many times had he just used the word youthful? Like, eight? What was he saying any way?  
Naru saw her sensei's confusion and decided to translate. "He's saying he has a present for me." She explained.

And lo and behold, out came the horrible, orange, spandex of death! "It was customized specifically for the orange flames of youth Naru-chan favors! Her flames shall burn with the intensity of the Sun with such a youthful piece of cloth!" He yelled at them, of course, yelling was his normal level. "Behold! Lee-kun became strong in this same youthful package!"  
"He's talking about how it'll make me stronger." Naru translated.  
It was the very thing she had feared, the orange spandex! When Gai finally left, she held the offensive clothing like it would bite her.  
"Where'd you learn to speak youthful-ese?" Jaraiya inquired.  
"Tenten gave me lessons." She explained.

"Your not going to wear that, are you?" Jaraiya knew fairly well Naru would do almost anything to get stronger, and she _did_ like orange.  
"Are you kidding me?" She sounded hysterical. "This thing is the very thing that's been giving me nightmares since Gai said he was going to get me one! If I had to go up against a living orange spandex, I woud run away before the fight began! And you ask me if I'm going to wear it!"  
Later that same day, the burned the offensive cloth in some hobo's fire. Naru shuddered in memory of the horrible thing. "I'm going to have nightmares until I turn thirty." She predicted.

At the next village, they decided to go to a pub for a bite to eat. Naru stopped outside the door. "I am a thirteen year old girl." She told Jaraiya. "Are you trying to corrupt me or something? I'm underaged!"  
"Relax!" Jaraiya scolded her. "No ones telling you to drink! You can get some water or something! Besides, places like these are good for gathering information!"  
No sooner had they walked in, then they realized it had been a good idea. "TSUNADE!" "JARAIYA!"

As they waited semipatiently for the food and drink to arrive, Jaraiya handed out some cards to Tsunade. "So what brings you here?" She asked calmly, picking up her hand.  
"I'll cut to the chase." Jaraiya said. "The village Hidden in the Leaves has made it's desicion, Tsunade, you've been named the fifth hokage. Old man Sarutobi was killed, by Orochimaru."  
Naru didn't fail to notice the way Tsunade's eyes widened at the mention of their old teammate. "Will you take the job?" He asked carefully.  
Sighing, Tsunade put down her hand of cards. "Impossible, I decline." She said calmly. "Hokage is a fool's job! Sarutobi-sensei should have known better, playing the hero at his age!"  
This woman was ticking Naru off faster than Jaraiya! Her eyes flashing purple, she stood up and slapped one hand onto the table.

"Don't you _dare_ disrespect the old man!" She growled ferally. "You wanna take this outside brat?" Tsunade challenged her, bad mistake, if Naru's smirk of evil was anything to go by.  
Now they stood facing eachother outside, carefully observing the other. "Let me ask you something brat, what makes you so touchy about Hokage?" Tsunade asked, hoping to distract the brat.  
Naru smirked again, never taking her eyes off her opponent. "Because unlike you that's my goal! Just watch, someday I'll _be_ Hokage! Remember this, to be Hokage, that is my _dream_!"  
She threw some tagged kunai at Tsunade, but the medic nin saw the brightly coloured tags and jumped up to avoid the blast. To her amazement, they were only decoys.

Below her, Naru was making a rasengan, ready for when Tsunade fell back down to Earth. 'There's no way a _kid_ could master the rasengan!' Tsunade cried inwardly.  
Tsunade could see that this would be trouble if it hit her, so she drew out some senbon and aimed carefully. Naru barely dodged the attack, but ended up dropping the rasengan, canceling it out effectively.  
After that Tsunade came down in a super powered axe kick, which Naru dodged just in time. On impact, several rocks flew up, one of them striking the still air born Uzumaki.  
She landed on the ground hard, Tsunade walked over to her and was surprised to find the girl was concious and grinning. 'Maybe I should check her sanity.' Tsunade pondered, about to knock the kid out with a punch.

With speed and agility none could match, Naru avoided the blow and landed on the roof of another building. "Is all you can do, run away?" Tsunade taunted, trying to anger her.  
"Nope!" Naru answered happily, clearly enjoying herself. "Wanna see what else I can do Grandma?"  
"DON't CALL ME THAT!" Just as Naru had hoped, the blood had all rushed to straight to the sannin's head. When Tsunade got in a lucky hit, it turned out to be a clone, every time! It was starting to piss her off.  
Suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, Tsunade felt chills race on her spine. 'I got a bad feeling about this.' She couldn't find the brat, she'd just vanished.  
Suddenly there was a bright red flash and the medic nin felt something ram into her stomach. She grunted as she was tossed like a rag doll ten feet away. (HIRAISHIN! YAY!)

There with fist outstretched, stood the Leaf's number one most unpredictable ninja. "Don't underestimate me!" She warned. Tsunade climbed to her feet and growled at the annoying pest. "I'm Naru Uzumaki, genin level kunoichi of the village Hidden in the Leaves, and the future Hokage!"  
Naru charged the sannin, kunai in hand. Tsunade threw several kunai, forcing Naru to jump into the air like before. This time, she threw several tagged kunai mixed with a few senbon to catch her off guard.  
On the side lines, Jaraiya and Shizune were placing bets on who would win. Jaraiya felt bad for doubting his former teammate, but betting on the underdog usually payed off.

After several more barely avoided kicks and punches, Tsunade finally got inside Naru's guard and knocked her flying through a wall and half way through a second one.  
"Little fool, as if you could beat a sannin." Tsunade gloated, though she had to admit (To herself anyway) the kid had come close to getting her a few times. Naru groaned and looked up to face the approaching sannin. Her vision was blurry, but she wanted to say one thing before passing out. "Just wait a while, I'll be the next hokage, bet on it."  
Tsunade caught her as she fell, and that's when she saw the curse mark on her shoulder where the cloth had ripped. "Heh, you did good brat."

/THE END!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
LC; TA DA!  
Naruto; SWEET! I almost creamed grandma Tsunade!  
Sasuke; Why couldn't you put in my fight?  
LC; Cause then I wouldn't have been able to fit this one in, plus I don't like shark guy.  
Sharky; You couldn't at least remember my name?  
LC; No, what is it?  
Sharky; It's Kisame!  
Itachi; Can I still have a copy of that photo?  
LC; Sure!  
Kisame; Itachi you traitor!  
LC; Next time on a Kunoichi's tail! Naru's got a bet going with Tsunade! Can she possibly completely master the chakra sealing technique? If so, what crazy way will Naru think of doing it? And what happens when she one again comes face to face with the same monster who put the curse mark on her? Will Orochimaru make off with his next vessel? Or will he get his butt handed to him on a silver platter?


	14. Chapter 14

LC; I'm really keen to finish chapter fourteen!  
Naruto; Your rhyming is getting seriously annoying.  
Sasuke; Is there any way we can get you to stop?  
LC; yes.  
Both;...What is it?  
LC; Both of you, do hot, sexy yaoi sex!  
Naruto; *Exchanges look with Sasuke*  
Sasuke; *Exchanges look with Naruto*  
LC; Well?  
Both; NO FRIGGIN WAY!  
LC; AWWWWW! *Dissappointed*  
Disclaimer; these things are getting annoying! If I didn't own it thirteen chapters ago, what makes you think I own it now?

Chapter 14; The sure fire way to piss Naru Uzumaki.

Pain hurts. Sure, that was the whole idea of pain, but still, OW! Naru opened her eyes her eyes to find she was laying on a futon in a hotel room.  
"Your awake sooner than expected brat, it's only been a few hours." Tsunade commented, slightly impressed. Inwardly though, she was wigging out. 'How does she know the Hiraishin! She's just a _kid_! She didn't even use one of those special kunai as far as I could see either! How the Hell she do that!'  
Naru sat up and stretched out her sore muscles. "Note to self, if I pick a fight with a sannin, let it be pervy sage." She muttered.

"Kid, that was the Hiraishin you pulled there, where'd you learn it?" Tsunade asked curious and slightly suspicious. "What, don't see the family resemblance?" Naru taunted her, flashing one of her fox like smiles.  
"But Minato never wrote down the technique, and he couldn't have told you!" She reasoned aloud. "And you didn't even use one of the three-pronged kunai either!"  
"Oh that?" She asked, digging in her pocket. "See, those kunai are big and easy to notice, so I kind of took them and made my own."  
In the palm of her hand, was three tiny three-pronged kunai, about the size of a shuriken, and pitch black, so it was hard to see in the dark.  
"You mean, you made yourself some tiny kunai?" Jaraiya asked, practically speechless. 'This kid's a genius!'

"They're smaller, harder to see, easier to carry, and still do the job right!" Naru boasted. Tsunade would normally hit anyone over the head for bragging about anything, but she did kinda knock the kid senseless already.  
"Get off your high horse brat, even with the Hiraishin you lost." That didn't mean she couldn't attack her with words!  
"I didn't really expect to win anyway!" She said happily, kicking her legs over the edge of the bed.  
"Why not?" Tsunade asked curiously. "I thought you were fighting for the Hokage's honor?"  
"Yeah kinda, but I was also testing myself against a sannin." Naru replied happily.

"Hey granny, are you coming back to the Leaf or what?" Naru asked as they walked down the crowded street.  
"No." Tsunade answered curtly. The kid had been asking that since she'd woken up! Did she _ever_ stop? Like a snowball on a cold winter day, Tsunade was struck with an idea.  
"Kid, you like learning new jutsu right?" She asked deviously.  
At Naru's confirming nod, she continued. "Well, why don't I teach you a special technique I myself developed? It's not even that hard." Hook, line, and sinker!

"What kind of jutsu?" Naru asked eagerly. "Will you teach it to me?" It was like taking candy from a baby.  
"Sure, and if you can master it in a week, I'll come back to the Leaf admitting I'm wrong, I'll even toss in my necklace!" She bet happily. Funny how she forgot she never wins!  
"Just tell me what to do!" Naru practically pleaded, using her puppy eyes jutsu.  
'Curse Jaraiya for inventing that jutsu!' Tsunade raged inwardly as she looked down at the impossibly big blue eyes.  
In a bar not too far away, Jaraiya felt the chill of death. 'Some woman must be out for my blood.' He thought drunkedly.

Tsunade took Naru to a clearing not far from the village, and there, showed her the chakra seal on her forehead and how to do it.  
"Have fun brat." Tsunade waved as she turned to go.

Once Tsunade was out of sight, Naru dropped the facade and commenced to worry. "How am I supposed to know what seals work for this? I'm only in intermediate!" She cried sadly, crying anime crocodile tears.  
**"Relax kit, you brought your intermediate and advanced scrolls with you, right?"** He already knew the answer. **"So just look it up!"**  
Naru could've smacked herself for her stupidity. Unsealing the two scrolls, she got two clones to look through them while she practiced molding her chakra to prepare herself for sealing some of it away.

Finally one of the clones found the proper text in the intermediate scroll and memorized it before disspelling itself. When the information loaded itself into Naru's brain she dismissed the second clone, noticing she now knew almost half of the advanced sealing scroll.

"Alright, time to get started." She decided, taking out a blank scroll and beginning to practice drawing the correct seal needed.  
Once finished, she practiced the hand signs until she had them mastered.  
By this time, the Sun was beginning to set. After a brief debate with her tenant she decided to continue training for a while longer.

(Several hours later)

Naru panted tiredly as she held up her finished scroll. 'Finally! I've got it all down, now I just have to draw it on my skin!' She thought triumphantly.  
**"Kit, go to the hotel and go to sleep!"** Kyu ordered his exhausted host. **"You've been doing this training all night! The Sun's going to rise any minute!"**

Naru did go back to the hotel, however her first stop wasn't the futon, it was the bathroom.

**"Kit."** Kyu growled warningly.

'What?' She thought defensively. 'I'm only going to draw it on and seal a teeny amount of chakra inside.'  
Kyubi shook his head in defeat. **'She's never going to change. She's going to train herself into her grave one of these days. And then she'll probably stand back up again to practice her aim.'**  
Despite his dry sense of humor, he respected his kit for working so hard. Though he knew it was for many reasons, he believed the most important one was, that she wanted to show people who she was and protect them with all her being.

Jaraiya had heard Naru come in, but instead of her going to sleep, she went to the bathroom. He was starting to wonder what she could be doing in there when an hour had passed.  
'Did she fall in?' He pondered. There was one thing he did not want to do, and that was give CPR to his student if she drowned in a toilet.  
After some more time had passed and she still didn't emerge, he silently opened the door to see Naru painstakingly copying a seal onto her face.  
'That's Tsunade's rebirth seal.' He noticed silently. 'Tsunade must have shown it to her and she wanted to try it out.'

The next day, Naru left for the same clearing to restart her training. She tried sealing chakra into the seal, but her face always began to burn when she attempted it.  
At first, she thought she was trying to seal too much at one time. But after sealing less and less and still not getting the desired effect, she realized she must have made a mistake somewhere along the line.  
Going back to her scrolls, she found that the seal must have a medium. A place where it hid the markings, like the jewel thing on Tsunade's forehead.  
Naru didn't want one on her forehead, so she had to find a different place to put it.

'Maybe on my neck?' She pondered silently. It had to be a place she could hide, but also could be revealed easily. When her thoughts wandered to her curse mark, she got an idea for a place this new mark could be.  
She would put it on her chest, right below where the neck ended, right above her cleavage.

After deciding this, she placed another seal on herself after washing away the first one. Afterward she attempted sealing chakra inside the little mark.  
It worked, and she sealed almost half of her chakra inside.

The next day, she entered the final stage of using the jutsu, and that was actually using it. Being three days into training, she was feeling a little impatient and rushed to finish.  
"Ninja art; Creation Rebirth jutsu!" She cried, activating the jutsu only after exhausting herself by training with a hundred clones in a battle royale. (YAY!)

She felt the chakra flood her system and proceded to pummel a thousand clones. However, before she even got to the last five hundred, the side effects kicked in.  
This sent her into a dead faint as her body felt all of the strain it had just gone through all at once.

Shizune had been watching silently from a vantage point directly behind her. When she saw Naru faint she dashed out and caught her before she crashed to the ground.  
She gasped when she saw Naru's face. It was all strained and wrinkled, like someone was sucking out all the youth in her body.

An hour later, Shizune had taken Naru back to Jaraiya's hotel room and was trying to think of a way to tell them about the necklace.  
When Naru and Jaraiya were both ready, she told them about the necklace's curse.

"You must understand, that necklace means more than life itself to Lady Tsunade." She began nervously. "Only on Lady Tsunade is it safe. If any other were to wear it, then they would die. The necklace has taken two lives already, lady Tsunade's younger brother, and my uncle."  
Naru didn't know how a necklace could kill you, but she did know that both those men had died after being given the necklace as a gift, and both of those men, had aspired to be hokage.  
"She shouldn't have bet it then." Naru murmured, leaving the bed and heading out the door.  
"Where are you going!" Shizune demanded.  
"Out for some training." She muttered, shutting the door behind her.

Naru continued her training, trying to master the rebirth technique. Even when the effects began to kick in, she forced herself to stand tall.

On the seventh day, she finally mastered it. "YEAH!" She yelled in victory, jumping in to the air happily.  
**"Good going Kit, but scream a little louder, there might be some people in Wave who didn't hear you."** Kyu muttered murderiously, having been awoken from a nap.  
'Ah shut up Kyu!' Naru scolded. 'I finally mastered it! And in the nick of time too!'

Turning around she hiraishinned back to the hotel to find Jaraiya who would find Tsunade so she could collect on that bet. "Pervy Sage! I mastered that technique!" She called, opening the door and rushing in to find Shizune unconcious on the floor.  
"Shizune!" She gasped, running to the older girl. "Wake up, come on, rise and shine!" She urged, shaking her shoulders.

A groan escaped her lips as she forced her eyes open to a blurry Naru hovering over her. "Na-Naru, where's lady Tsunade?" She whispered hoaresly.  
"I was going to ask you the same thing." Naru said calmly. "We have to hurry!" Shizune cried. "She's gone to Orochimaru!" Naru started like someone had sent a thousand volts through her body.  
"Orochimaru?" She repeated unbelievingly.

Naru dashed to the window and was going to jump out when a kunai lodged itself right next to her ear. Naru jumped back and readied a kunai to throw, until she saw Jaraiya panting on the ground.  
"She slipped something into my drink." He told them, accepting the cup of water from Shizune. "I can't even throw a kunai straight."  
"Straight enough to almost kill me you old pervert!" Naru screamed, adding a punch to the head for good measure.  
"It wasn't my fault!" Jaraiya whimpered, nursing his bump. "I thought you were Tsunade."  
"Whatever, we're wasting time!" Naru decided, standing up. "We've got to go and find Tsunade. Besides, she owes me one necklace." She said triumphantly.

By following the many craters and sounds of mild explosions, they eventually found Tsunade quivering on the ground like a jelly fish while Kabuto moved in for the kill.  
Taking several kunai, Naru threw them before activating the Hiraishin just in time to catch Kabuto's hand holding the kunai.  
"Get out of the way Naru!" Tsunade screamed. "I'll be fine! He's going to kill you!"  
"No way!" Naru shouted. "Besides, I can't let you get kidnapped by that snake bastard! Besides," She started a little more calmly. "Kabuto and I have some unfinished business."

Naru held her arm out to the side, and a rasengan began forming within it. "Rasengan!" Kabuto knew he only had one shot and began rapidly healing himself, while at the same time using his knowledge of the human body to hit a special point that would render her paralyzed before he was blasted back by the force of the blow.

Naru panted heavily as exhaustion began filling her body and her eyesight grew blurry. "Give it up already, your going to come with us and be a good little vessel." Kabuto taunted.  
"Fat chance." Naru panted, bringing her arms up for more signs. "Get ready to pay up on that bet granny Tsunade." She said, placing the last seal. "Ninja art; Creation Rebirth!"

Tsunade was shocked that a mere genin had mastered her techniqu in less than a week. She was even more shocked when chakra and KI began rolling off Naru like water.  
Orochimaru glanced over at his future vessel and chuckled in anticipation. The three years weren't quite up yet, but she was going to be the perfect vessel once he took over her mind.  
He was impressed when he saw her perform the Hiraishin and rasengan, but that only meant he could use them too when he took over.  
She was most definetly an interesting prospect. And when he saw the same seals as Tsunade's begin to cover her body, he knew he'd made a good choice in giving up Sasuke-kun, oops, he meant _just_ Sasuke.

To his amazement, instead of going after the fallen Kabuto to finish the job, she turned to face him with a look of utter hatered.  
"Oro-teme you and me are gonna dance!" She challenged him, flexing a fist to get used to the new strength.  
She charged the giant snake, and ran all the way up to Orochimaru in a few seconds before punching him down to Earth.  
"I'm going to make you pay for that _hickey_ you gave me!" She swore, jumping down in an axe kick, burying him within a foot of the Earth.

She jumped a ways away and prepared for a counterattack. Orochimaru stood slowly, chuckling to himself all the while.  
"Naru-chan, aren't you tired of being under appreciated? Of being hated?" He asked casually, as if it were no big deal.  
"I may be hated by many, but I'm liked by few!" She argued. "Those few are my friends, and I'll never betray them for a _pedophile vampire_!"  
Ok yeah, the universe hated her. Why else would it give her a smart mouth that would someday get her killed with a little luck?  
"How do you know they really care about you?" He asked her seriously, trying not to lose his temper. "They only see you as a means to prolong their own existence, a scrape goat, a demon."  
He could see her indecision, he knew she had doubts, and he was playing on them.

Naru clenched her fists and with a mighty roar charged after the sannin again. "You had friends! You had family! You chose to gave it up!" She screamed at him. "NOT ME! Even if they use me, even if they all hate me, I'll never join you!"  
He blocked most of her punches and kicks but he knew his hands were taking a beating. "I'm Naru Uzumaki, future hokage!" She roared, knocking the snake back ten feet.  
She unsealed her naginata and charged again at the frankly peeved pedophile.

Naru mainly tried to find a flaw in his defense, but he was faster, stronger, more expierenced, and really older and more snakey, so this turned out to be difficult.  
Tossing away her now splintered naginata, she unsealed her dual blades and charged in again.  
"It's pointless, you'll see sooner or later that they are merely using you to further their own goals." He taunted her, dodging her swipes with only a little difficulty.  
"Damnit!" She cursed, having been knocked back and starting to feel the side effects of the rebirth jutsu. "How many times do I got to say it? I. Will. Never. Go. With. YOU!" She screamed with utmost clarity. "I'd first kiss Pervy Sage, Pervy-Uchiha- Pervy-sensei, and Old Man Hokage's corpse before blowing myself up!"  
(See, she doesn't want to go with the creepy snake guy who's name I've forgotten.)

Meanwhile, everyone else was watching the battle while eating some pop corn. "So who's Pervy-sensei?" Tsunade asked with her mouth full.  
"I think it's Kakashi Hatake." Jaraiya answered patiently, enjoying seeing Orochimaru trying to reason with her. She was exactly like Kushina when angry. The fact Naru had called him a vampiric pedophile just made it more interesting.  
While he held doubts about the vampire bit, the pedophile thing he knew was a hundred percent true.  
Kabuto had not joined them as he was still trying to recover from the rasengan. 'How could she have masked her talent so fluently? I knew she was stronger than she appeared, but taking on Orochimaru?'  
Yeah, he was approaching the line between semi-concious and brain dead right about now.

And then of course, Naru drove everyone over that line and a bit beyond it, before thouroghly erasing said line, making it almost impossible to recover!  
"I've had enough of this!" She yelled, knicking her thumb with the tip of the blades before resealing them. "Demonic Summoning!"  
**"HERE'S RYO!"** The summons cried out. It was a solid black fox about the size of cleaveland.** "Alright Kit, so who's on the menue today?"**  
"The giant snake and the summons." Naru said coyly, almost innocently. If not for the waves of KI washing off her that made even Orochimaru consider running away from a little girl no one would ever have known she was a ninja.

"Since when can anyone summon foxes?" Shizune demanded of Jaraiya, feeling slightly afraid of the apparently happy and currently giggling blonde. She looked like she was just a regular kid on an amusement park ride or something!  
"Apparently the Kyubi gave her a contract." Jaraiya said slowly. "Thought this is the first I've seen it."

"Alright you pedophile, I'm gonna teach you what little girls are made of!" She called to the frankly dwarfed sannin. Compared to the fox, his summons was a chew toy at best.  
"We're made of FOX FIRE!" This last was actually a jutsu she could do when she was with one of her summons. Basically a lot of green fire came out of Ryo's mouth and began melting the snake chew toy into an unrecognizable blob on the ground.  
Luckily for him, Orochimaru had moved away and summoned the boss of the snakes, Manda.  
Upon seeing the fox summons, Manda fumed. **"Orochimaru, I don't care about sacrifices." **He said stifly, coiling, ready to strike like the cobra he was. **"All I want is a fair shot of taking that damned kitsune with me to the after life!"**  
**"AW!"** Ryo crooned sickeningly. **"Still mad about the time I accidently gave your eggs to those mongoose summons? I swear I ever knew they hated you!"** It was almost believable if not for the fact he was laughing his tail off.

/LIN BREAK MEANS STORY CHAP DONE!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
LC; YEAH! And Naru kicks ass once again!  
Naruto; AW! I wanna kick more ass!  
Sasuke; You had to mention the vampire thing again?  
LC; Yes, he is the unholy son of count Dracula and Voldemort! He has to _at least_ be half vampire!  
Naruto; You have to admit, it would make sense.  
LC; Also, as for the kicking ass bit, you shall kick much more ass next time.  
Sasuke; Do the sneak peek thing already.  
LC; OOOOOKAY! Next time on a Kunoichi's Tail! Naru continues her fight with the sannin, but will anyone ever get off their lazy asses and help her? Why hasn't Oro-teme denied being a vampire or pedophile? Will Ryo beat Manda? If so, what after that? Tune in next time to find out and for a limited time only, get a free Naru plushie! READ AND REVIEW OR DEATH TO YOU!


	15. Chapter 15

LC; It looks pretty lean, that chapter fifteen!  
Naruto; Aw great! Why can't Sasuke be a girl for once?  
LC; I've actually started a fic where Sasuke is Sasu-chan!  
Sasuke; WHAT? Where'd you get that sick idea?  
LC; It's just, you don't like any girls. It was either cause you were a girl yourself or you were gay.  
Naruto; HAHAHAHAHAA!  
Sasuke; Don't laugh loser, or no sex tonight!  
Naruto; Let's see how long you can last without it then.  
Sasuke; Deal!  
*One hour later*  
Sasuke; *Glomps Naruto* I NEED SEX!  
LC; Your computer is expierencing technical difficulties so we'll be cencoring this bit of sexual intercourse.  
Disclaimer; I don't own them, I own a foot long sub way though, care to trade?

Chapter 15; The trip back home.

Manda had to forcibly restrain himself from hissing acid at the stupid fox. He did still have his pride and he would not relinquish it for this loser.  
"Ryo, snack time." Naru said happily, drawing out her scythe from the scroll up her sleeve.** "Gotcha!"** The giant fox barked.

The next ten minutes were filled with Orochimaru periodically tempting the girl with promises of revenge and power and whatever else he thought would interest her.  
Needless to say he was beginning to wonder if he should have stuck with the Uchiha. Surely he would have been easier to get than this girl?  
Of course, that was when he saw her bloodline trait.

The two summons clashed together, but the snake used his tail to swipe Naru off of her feet and sent her flying through the air at an incredible speed.  
Knowing that she now had no choice, she summoned her wings.

"Heaven's Seal!" She cried, bringing forth her glowious golden wings to slow her decent before shooting up into the air again.  
Orochimaru smirked as he realized this girl was the gold mine he had thought her to be. She had just proven it with a bloodline previously thought extinct, and if he could posses it, he would be unstoppable!  
Naru flew as fast as she could and upon getting in range, she started firing shuriken with senbon thrown into the mix in an attempt to injure him at the very least.

Down below, Tsunade watched as the brat she had taunted fought Orochimaru with everything she had, despite being injured and clearly outmatched.  
Orochimaru grew bored with their spar and knocked her out of the air by firing many different snake related jutsu at her.  
When he came at her with his blade kusanagi, that's when Tsunade snapped.  
Just before Naru would have been impaled on the snake sword, Tsunade managed to punch Orochimaru hard enough to alter his course and send him flying in the opposite direction.  
Activating her own rebirth creation seal, Tsunade kept up the barrage, knowing Naru couldn't fight anymore.

"Tsunade, does this mean you refuse to heal my arms?" Orochimaru querried. Kind of a stupid question really, since she was beating him to a writhing blob on the ground.  
"I've finally remembered something." Tsunade said seriously. "I have been chosen, to be the fifth hokage!"  
The beating began again, and Naru silently shuddered as she wondered what would happen if she pissed off this lady.  
After all, everyone knows a pissed off kunoichi is twice as dangerous as Orochimaru and the Kyubi combined any day of the week!

While Tsunade pummeled their former teammate, Jaraiya and Shizune ran over to where Naru hadn't moved to tend to her many, many injuries.  
(Somewhere else the fox and snake were still going at it)(_WOOOHOOO!_ Giant monster fight!)  
"Man, kunoichi are scary." Jaraiya mumbled for good reason. He had watched a thirteen year old girl hold her own against Orochimaru, followed closely by seeing a fifty year old one commence beating the same man into the ground.  
Of course he used the term 'man' very loosely.

On one of the last punches she threw, Tsunade ripped away something that resembled skin, revealing a different face beneath the mask.  
"What are you?" Tsunade asked breathlessly, feeling the affects of her jutsu beginning to kick in but not showing weakness.  
"This is my forbidden immortality jutsu." He answered calmly, chuckling.  
Kabuto flash stepped by his master's side, still hurt from that rasengan from earlier.  
"When I return," Orochimaru continued tauntingly. "I'll show you what it means to be truly immortal."  
He melted into the ground and Kabuto shunshined away, leaving the four of them all alone.

Farther away, Ryu the fox had somehow managed to get Manda into a pretty pink dress and had just placed a bow on his head while dodgeing the many streams of acid.  
**"Kit!"** He called to his mistress. **"Get your ass over here and take a picture!"**  
Naru, happy at the prospect of a new addition to her book, eagerly ran over using Hiraishin.  
"Say cheese!" She called to the absolutely furious and blushing snake. How did she know he was blushing? It was cause his scales looked pinkish.  
"Blackmail!" She cried gleefully, taking shot after shot. "Glorious blackmail!"

Wanting to escape his torture and hoping that he would never have to find out just what kind of blackmail the girl would use those pictures for, Manda dismissed himself.  
Naru looked over ten new pictures and cried anime tears of joy for her finest achievement.  
"WE PRANKED A GIANT SNAKE!" She screamed in victory, waving the pictures like a bunch of flags. Ryu has having lot's 'o' fun just dancing in victory and for his great trouble and cunning, recieved five of the pictures.  
"NO ONE CAN BEST THE GREAT NARU AND RYU DUO AT PRANKS!" She proclaimed loudly to the world. "BEHOLD THE KING AND QUEEN OF PRANKS!"

Ryu was soon dismissed and the four shinobi went to the bar they had met for dinner and to celebrate. Tsunade was amazed the kid had recovered from using the seal so quickly.  
Even more so when she recieved what Naru called, the prank to end all pranks.  
It seemed, from what she saw of the scrapbook Naru considered a sort of security blanket, that she was constantly topping herself with these, 'pranks' as she called them happily.

Her really major pranks even had dates of when they were done written in the captions! Her first big one, was when she had used a special paint to dye the hokage robes orange.  
The next was when she rigged a trap over the academy door so who ever entered it had green hair for the rest of the day after trying to use chakra.  
The third, was what was known as 'The Hokage Strike' where she'd painted the monuments. Next came the Kakashi and Sasuke pranks, then came the S-ranked criminal pranks.  
Thus leading up to her crowning achievement, the great Summons Prank!

Needless to say, Tsunade made a mental note to stay on guard whenever Naru was around. It just wouldn't do for the fifth hokage to be pranked by a genin, now would it?  
As she looked over the increasingly devious pranks, she noticed something strange.  
"Hey Naru, why is it that between your fifth and sixth birthdays, there are no pranks at all?" She asked curiously. None of the pranks were dated between those times, it was all just one big blank space.  
"Oh that?" Naru looked down at her book happily. "Well that year, I was a bit busy. I was training really hard and didn't have time for pranks, though I made up for it. Out of respect, I kept those pages blank."

Tsunade watched Naru closely as they made their way out of that village and began the journey home. 'Naru Uzumaki, your going to be one_ Hell _of a kage.' She smiled, catching sight of the glinting necklace against the jacket.  
'You can rest easy, Don, Malwaki,' She thought affectionatly. 'Your dreams live on, in Naru uzumaki.'

The four of them traveled for two days before reaching a resort village. "Oooh a spa!" Shizune cried, looking at the brochure. "Oh we have to stop here!"  
Tsunade was in full agreement, but Naru and Jaraiya both wanted to go back home to the village.  
"But Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke need to be healed! Along with Lee!" Naru protested hotly. "We don't have time to take a vacation!"  
Tsunade knew Naru probably didn't enjoy the spas, but she could always try.

"Not only is there a warm bath, but all sorts of other fun!" She tempted the teenager. "For instance, gambling!"  
She honestly hadn't expected Naru's ears to prick at the word gambling, but she decided to build on this new development.  
"And with a quick henge you could pass for a full grown woman and possibly strike big!" Oh yeah, she had the kid's attention.  
"Who knows, it could be your chance to strike rich!"  
Jaraiya groaned inwardly as he saw a very familiar grin adorn his student's features. He hadn't known she enjoyed gambling!

Three hours later, they had had enough relaxing and were going to go out and gamble their way into either riches or woes.  
"We got 300 hundred girly, try and double that." Tsunade urged her new gambling partner.  
Naru took the suitcase and quickly changed into a twenty two year old version of herself, minus the whiskers.

As they sat at the poker table, the eight men couldn't keep their eyes off of her chest. Gambling Naru was completely serious, a totall opposite of her normal self.  
Her poker face was unmatched by all, not that those men bothered noticing, seeing as her chest was far more interesting.  
Her hand wasn't the best of them, only two pairs, even if one was two kings. So she knew it was trouble when one of the men decided to make things more interesting.

"I propose we make things more interesting." He was a sleazy man with about a ton of grease in his hair. "Why not start betting clothing?"  
The rest of the men instantly caught on to his meaning and began to agree with him.  
"Winner take all?" Naru asked, raising her brow. If she was going to play strip poker, she was leaving with more than a few fancy watches damnit!  
"Of course." All of the men assured her.

Glancing to her left, she caught the two reluctant nods of the females of the group, and a very eager one from Jaraiya.  
"Why not?" She smirked, fingering her hand. "I work best under pressure."  
For the next five rounds, she purposely lost at the game, hiding away the good cards until she had a full house.  
By then, she only wore ninja fish netting shirt, and her biker shorts worn under her ninja pants.  
"I'd say we're about to see something interesting, eh boys?" The sleaze asked his pals.  
"You got that right boss." One answered, eyeing her ass from around the table.

Tsunade was starting to get nervous. 'Damnit why is she losing! Oh no! Don't tell me she has the Senju luck!' She thought nervously, nibbling on her fingers.  
Shizune was eyeing the men intently. If one of them dared make a move against the innocent teen, she was going to castrate them all!  
Jaraiya on the other hand, was praying she'd lose the next hand too. 'Gold! Pure _perverted_ gold!' He cried gleefully within his mind. His perv sense was on turbo mode.  
Naru shuddered as her pervert senses tingled like mad.

Finally, the sixth hand came up and she allowed her poker face to crack just a bit, enough to make the men raise a few eye brows.  
"I call." She announced, layig her hand on the table for them to see the full house.  
From then on, she won back all her clothes, and then all the money.

Tsunade made a mental note to exchange her current diety for Naru and began praying for the girl's awesome luck so she could make all that money as well.  
"It's not luck, it's slight of hand!" Naru protested, now back in their hotel room and trying to stuff her fifty percent of the cash into her little Gamma-chan wallet. "Damnit!" She cursed. "I need a new wallet!"  
"Whatever brat, your still more worthy of worship than my last diety!" Tsunade swore under her breath.

Naru decided to go to the hot springs to relax and settled into the water easily. She sighed in ecstacy as the warm water filled her pores, sending her straight to cloud nine.  
"This is heaven." She sighed, faintly noticing some other women entering the bathing rooms. Not that she was worried of course, they were probably just here to enjoy a bath too after all.  
Then again, the fact they were at least jounin level made her tense slightly, despite the relaxing water.  
"Hey kid, where are your parents?" One kindly woman asked.

"Oh, I'm traveling with my grandma and aunt!" Naru answered swiftly. "Pervy-sage is travelling with us too!" She made sure her chakra levels were of a normal kid's, hoping they wouldn't ask too many questions.  
"Oh really?" The dark haired one asked her. "Who are they?" She was way too interested to be sincere.  
All sorts of warning sirens were going off in her mind at the moment.  
**"Kit, get out of there!"** Kyu ordered, sensing the trouble before it really started.  
"Well my aunt's name is Shizune!" She said innocently, trying to buy some time while not appearing all too concerned.

Naru suddenly caught whiff of a strange smoke starting to fill the baths. At first glance, it appeared to be the steam from the water, but it had a faint scent to it.  
This was poison.  
And the two women were holding their breath and had a murderous glint in their eyes.

Without warning Naru shot out of the baths and ran for the doors, not bothering with the towel that would only slow her down.  
Once inside, she used a quick body flicker technique to dress before running out of the room just as the women began to follow her.  
Two minutes later, they were starting to catch up to her and the poison was starting to take affect.  
'Damnit!' She cursed inwardly. 'I am not going to die at the hands of these assassins after holding my own against the _pedophile vampire!_'

Withing the next minute, Naru's senses began to distort and she began to stumble as wave after wave of nausia began flowing through her body.  
'Damn!' She cursed again, narrowly avoiding being skewered by some senbon. 'I am not going to die as a _shish-kebab_!'  
During her mental rant she hadn't been able to see where she was going and ran into someone.  
"Naru!" Shizune gasped, instantly recognizing the symptoms of poisoning.

Miyuki cursed her luck when she saw the toad sannin's apprentice standing protectively over their target. However her dark haired partner was a bit more vocal about it.  
"Just get the fuck away from the brat!" She ordered, drawing out a katana from a sheath at her side.  
"Harana, no, we're leaving." Miyuki ordered, grabbing her partner's shoulder and using a shushin to get away.

Once the danger had passed, Shizune knelt down to the suffocating teenager and began alleviating the poison's affects.  
"Who were those people Naru?" She asked, once the girl had caught her breath.  
"I don't know." She answered honestly, happily accepting the offered glass of water. "They came into the bath house and used a gas to try and get me. But it was slow acting and I managed to get a head start at them before they could follow."  
Being so panicked had opened her eyes a little more. Even outside the village, she wasn't safe and had to keep her guard up at all times.  
Even with the people she trusted.

/STORY BREAK!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
LC; That took **forever!**  
Naruto; Well maybe if you got off your lazy ass- *Is broken off by mysterious elephant crashing into him*.  
LC; Bad Naru! BAD BOY/GIRL!  
Naruto; I'm A BOY!  
LC; When you stop using the orioke jutsu, I'll believe you.  
Sasuke; Face it, he'll never stop using it.  
LC; Your not one to talk, Sas-_uke_!  
Sasuke; *Splutteres in attempt to come up with come back*  
LC; Next time, on a Kunoichi's Tail! The great wallet theft is underway! They get home again, but what do they find? Who will become a chunin? And what will Orochimaru do now to get his hands on Naru? Tune in next time to find out!  
Now review, or I won't feel loved and no new chappie will be uploaded.  
...Aw hell! Nothing can get me off this computer anyways!


	16. Chapter 16

LC; Yo peoples of the planet!  
Random Alien; Take me to your leader.  
LC; Okay...TSUNADE!  
Tsunade; What do you want Gaki?  
Alien; Surrendor!  
Tsunade;...I'm on it LC. *Proceeds to punch the ever living snot out of martian.*  
Naruto; And you brought the alien here why?  
LC; I got bored.  
Alien; Note to self, do not allow the earthling, Little Cutie, to become bored.  
LC; Fresh and green, it's chapter sixteen!  
Disclaimer;*Attempts to use heat vision on fire resitant contract* Not mine yet but I'm wearing it down! *Continues glaring.*

Chapter 16; Many strange happenings and pranks.

Shizune was amazed to say the least. The poison Naru had been inflicted with should have had her bed ridden for a week, and here she was a half hour later acting like nothing happened.  
All it had taken was a cat nap and she was back to a hundred percent! Shaking her head and muttered something about unnatural healing capabilities and cancer, Shizune ran off to find Tsunade.  
After all, they were in a town famous for gambling, and she didn't want anymore debts than they already had.

Naru wandered the town cautiously. She was bored out of her mind though. Whoever those women were, they had run out of town and she had nothing to do.

"Isn't there any fun here besides gambling?" She wondered aloud. "What's a kid suppossed to do here anyway?" Finally having had enough boredom, she decided to go back to the inn to get the necklace.  
The necklace had been worn by the first hokage himself, and was worth two gold mines and the mountains on top of them. Never before had she owned anything so valuable and she wasn't about to lose it.  
After all, that necklace sygnified her promise to be hokage herself, and she sure as hell wasn't going back on her word!

Once there, she paused outside her door. She felt like something was wrong, and her pervert senses were going haywire! Swallowing her doubt, she opened the door.

Her room looked like a tornado had swept by and hit it before calling on his friend tsuname! Everything was a wreck! All her supplies and scrolls were lying on the floor!  
Her clothes were strewn everywhere, including her underwear! Even the furniture was all screwy! She growled and went to go find the nearest pervert, (Jaraiya) when she caught sight of the note lying on the window sill.

If you want your necklace back come to the hill outside town and bring the money you owe us!

She blinked before screeching worse than Sakura.

"WHO THE HELL DO I OWE MONEY TO!" Her first thought was it was the sleazes from her gambling trick.  
If that were so, she should probably arrive in a henge. Then again, it would be funny to see their reaction. Besides, the longer she stood there, the greater the chance they'd figure out how valuable that piece of jewelry was.

Inwardly, Kyu wondered who would be dumb enough to steal from his kit? She had a knack for being very sadistic when it came to payback. Hell, Anko had nearly begged for a lesson in the infamous though-not-well-known Naru glare.  
So effective was this glare that the victim would fall into a catatonic state for three days, and upon awakening would not remember who had done it to them.  
Even he would cower like a baby in the corner if she so much as threatened him with it.  
He shuddered before sending a quiet pray of mercy to the goddess fox Inari for the poor fools.

Naru arrived on the hill and was a bit pissed to realize the guys weren't familiar and obviously weren't even ninja. She didn't bother hiding her precense anymore and walked up to them.  
Catching a glimpse of the necklace in the tall one's hand, she leapt into action. Summonging two clones to take care of them, she took not only the necklace, but their swords too.  
Funny thing is, when the clones dispelled, they reached for the empty sheaths before glimpsing both held expertly in her hands.

"I've never met either of you." She stated calmly, the underlying tone filled with anger.  
"And yet you have the guts to steal from me? To demand money of me?"  
Both men glanced between themselves and the necklace before falling to their knees.

"We didn't get it wrong did we?" Shin, (The taller one.) asked nervously. Chin was trembling slightly, recalling how easily the girl had taken their blades.

"But if Tsunade doesn't give us the money she owes us, then we can't go home to our wives and kids." Chin said sadly.  
Naru's face brightened in enlightenment.

"So that's it. You thought the necklace still belonged to grandma Tsunade!"  
Both the men paled considerably.  
"Your her granddaughter?" They asked simultaniously.  
"Huh?" Naru asked confusedly. "No, I just call her that cause she's like, old." She finished lamely.

Stage one of the plan; henge into Shizune, and take suit case, subtly leaving a special sake on the table designed to knock out the drinker. Which she had been saving for a special occasion, but she figured she could always get more before then.  
Stage two of her master plan; run like mad and hope the sake worked on someone who drank so frequently as Tsunade.  
Now, to implement the two part plan that would no doubt leave her with numerous bruises.  
She could only pray Tsunade would be merciful if she were caught.

A.N./Many readers may be asking, why would Naru be dumb enough to do this? Well, the answer is simple really, I want her to do it, and I am the authoress! Therefore my word is LAW!

Just outside the hotel, she henged into a perfect Shizune clone and walked into the room.

"Hey lady Tsunade!" She greeted happily, non-evilly. She pretended to just notice the suit case leaning against the wall. "Oh is that your suit case? I'll take it to the front desk where it will be safe!"

She successfully walked out, having previously sent a clone to switch the sake when she was distracted.  
Now, to see if it worked and if she would get out of this alive.  
She stopped in front of the waiting boys and held the case victoriously.

"Mission complete!" She said outragesouly. Without warning of any kind, a fishing line flew from the sky and hooked the suit case, wrenching it out of her hands.  
She stared at her empty hand for a few seconds, her brain trying to process why the suit case was suddenly gone.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?" She screamed, finally deciding it was really gone.  
Lo and behold, standing on the roof was 'Tsunade' herself, holding the fishing rod happily and smirking down at the younger blonde.  
"No way grandma!" She shouted upwards. "I play to win!"

She threw a shurken up, cutting the string, and caught the case as it fell from the sky. She looked to Shin and shouted. "Go long!" Before long, both Shin and Chin were running for their lives from the crazy gambling sannin who never won. At all.  
Naru could see the boys were tiring though, and Tsunade wasn't even really trying yet. Time for drastic measures.

"Pass it here!" She called from behind them.  
Kyu could be seen within her mindscape wearing an orange jersey and waving a flag with 'Believe it' written on it. **"Go Uzumaki!"** He cheered.  
Meanwhile, on Naru T.V., the star ninja Naru Uzumaki, who had had a flawless season had caught the 'ball' and was getting ready to sprint.  
"Hut hut, hike!" She called out, running faster than light in her haste to survive the next five minutes.  
(YAY! Superbowl!)

'Tsunade' cursed as she tried to pick out the original among the thousand clones running, screaming, through the streets past bewildred looking villagers.  
Finally making a decision, she made a dozen clones herself and went out to search for the real Naru.  
However, ten minutes of intense extreme hunting later, the clones were only down by about 955 clones. She took down the remaining five, but all of them vanished in a puff, leaving no see-able real Naru in the vicinity.  
She cursed again and met up with her clones on a nearby roof.

"Where is she?" She asked, they all finished. "Where's the real Naru?"

The real Naru happened to be posing as the fence directly to the right of the many Tsunade clones. She was soooo happy she had this beauty.  
Without it, many a prank would have failed before really even beginning. Finally the last Tsunade dissappeared from view and she let the cloth down, breathing out a sigh of relief.  
Picking up the suit case, she stuck to the shadows as she attempted to find both Shin and Chin to give them the money.  
At least, she was going to do that until 'Tsunade' stepped in front of her from inside a dark alley.

"AAAHH!" She shrieked, trying to turn and run away. However 'Tsunade', who was frankly pissed that it had taken so long to catch the teenager, grabbed the back of her jacket before she got too far.  
'Tsunade' snatched the case away from the kid and tossed her a few feet away. "OW!" She cried, rubbing her poor abused rump.  
Sadly, 'Tsunade' had been so eager to get to the case, that she had accidenly broken the latches that held it shut.  
Out fell a pile of I.O.U. notes.

And before anyone could think to make a wise crack about the large debt the future hokage owned, the real Tsunade appeared in the street.  
"Anyone want to tell me what's going on?" She asked, turning to 'Tsunade'. "And why are you under a henge Shizune?"  
'Tsunade' poofed, being replaced by a sheepish Shizune. "Um, well, I didn't think it would be a good idea for word of your debt to spread out." She said kindly, trying to shift the blame.

The next day, all of them were on the road heading to the Leaf village, back home. On the way, Naru began to think about her friends and what she thought of them, and how they thought of her.  
Sasuke was the brother that she would forever have a rivalry with. Sakura was the sister who always tried to get her to be more girly. (Rather unsuccessfully, might I add?)  
Tenten was like her sister in all things pointy. Neji was one of her fun cousins who she loved to spar with on occasion. Lee, was, well, Lee was like the crazy uncle.  
Hinata was the cousin she considered her best friend and who she liked to hang out with on a good day. Shino was the quiet, shy big brother. Kiba was the loud little brother, always picking fights but never really meaning anything.  
Shikamaru was defenitely the big brother, always happy to help with intellegience and the like. Ino was her other big sister, the one reaqdy with dating advice at a moment's notice.  
All in all, she thought she was very lucky to have them for her friends.

However, she knew she still had such a long way to go yet. While they no longer treated her like the plauge, and the beatings were less, she knew it was only temporary.  
They were merely waiting to see what she was going to do. When she messed up, they would all say it was inevitable that the demon would betray them all.  
She was determinned not to give them a reason to believe she were dangerous to them. Even if it killed her.

Jaraiya noticed his young charge's mood grow melancholy as they walked down the well worn path. He wondered what she was thinking that would make her so depressed.  
He sighed and thought what Minato would do if he knew what the villagers did to her. Probably release the Kyubi and say, 'Have at!'.  
Not that he would blame him. Sometimes he got an urge to do the same thing. All that kept him from acting on this foolish impulse was the girl's determination to prove the villager's of her trustworthiness.  
He could not be prouder.

At long last, the mismatched group reached the gates of Konohagakure.

Despite the hardships she had endured in the village, Naru could never hold back the grin that overtook her features upon sighting that symbol on the gates.  
"WOO HOO!" She screamed, running forward.

Naru tapped her foot impatiently as Jaraiya took his sweet time to sign the papers so they could go inside. She felt a little bad for the female chunin who had been born without a perv sense.  
Because Jaraiya's eyes were firmly latched onto her chest. Just before Tsunade lost any and all control, the female chunin decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Hey hun?" She asked sweetly, looking down at Jaraiya, before her face turned devilish. "KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PAPERS!" Jaraiya could be seen flying half way across the elemental nations, a trail of blood marking his path, not a second later.  
"Damned pervert." The chunin muttered, before opening the gates and letting them through.

Shizune dragged Tsunade to the hokage tower so she could attend a bunch of meetings, while Naru decided that she wanted to go home for a little while.  
Once she reached her apartment, she dismally read the graffiti on the door and walls. "Let's see if they got inside." She muttered, unlocking the door.  
Yup, sure enough, all her furniture was in ashes. Inside her closet, ashes. Inside her kitchen, a giant mess. Instead of burning things they had strewn all her perishable food on the floor. All of her cup ramen was gone.  
Even the bathroom wasn't untouched. It was covered in spray paint and things that looked suspiciously like claw marks on the walls and floor.

"Shadow clone jutsu." She whispered, summoning half a dozen clones. "Alright, you three clean this mess. The other three, put up a henge to go and buy food and more clothes and things."  
After the clones left to do their jobs, Naru left her house to go and see her friends and boyfriend. On the walk home she'd decided it was high time Kiba learn a little more about her, he'd earned it.  
Besides, she knew he wouldn't mind...Well, he'd mind, but he wouldn't immediatly hate her.  
...She could hope right? Right?  
Someone say yes.

By time she had reached the Inuzuka compound she was one thought away from turning tail and running for her life. Luckily Akamaru smelled her and interrupted said thought.  
Mentally cursing her own negative thinking, Naru turned to greet her boyfriend and his dog.

"Hi Kiba!" She said exubrantly. "I'm back!" Kiba grinned and ran down the steps towards her. Akamaru following closely on his heels.  
Tsume looked out the window in time to see her son running at the beck and call of the Uzumaki pup. She was proud of her boy all right. He'd found someone who made him happy. That was all any mother ever wanted for her baby.

Whilst Tsume had been lost in her thoughts, Kiba and Naru had walked to the park so they could speak privately. Naru was nervous, and Kiba could smell it.

"Kiba, I thought about this a lot on the way home." She said slowly, putting it off. "I know you must've been curious about the other stuff I've been keeping a secret from you."  
He waited patiently for her to continue. He had long wondered what secrets Naru Uzumaki held up her sleeves. He knew it was hard for her to divulge any secrets she knew, a thing that would come in handy later on.

"What do you know of the Kyubi no Kitsune?" She asked him curiously, cocking her head to the side in a cute manner.  
He started for a moment before answering in a text book manner about the fight with the fourth and how he had died killing the demon.  
He could've sworn she had flinched at the word demon but shook it off.

"Kiba, you can't kill a demon." She said, turning to face the lake. "Not by mortal means. You can seal it though." He arched a curious brow, wondering what she was getting at.  
"It would have to be someone who's chakra coils hadn't developed yet though. Meaning a newborn baby." His eyes began to widen at the implications.  
"Do you know when my birthday is?" She asked him sadly, preparing for the hate she expected.  
He shook his head and listened while she told him everything. About being made into a jinchuriki, the hatred of the villagers, and her quest to change their minds.

She bowed her head when he didn't immediatly answer. She believed that he thought like the villagers did, that he would hate her.  
It came as a total shock when she was suddenly enveloped in a warm hug, within his strong arms. Akamaru had jumped from his jacket and curled up in her lap.

"Naru, they are a bunch of fools who don't deserve someone like you giving them a second thought." Kiba said firmly. "Your the farthest thing from a demon there is. I don't know anyone who's as kind hearted and strong as you are." Tears began to fill Naru's eyes as he continued on. "Naru, I don't care if the entire world hates you for it. Your no demon. Your Naru Uzumaki, girl of my dreams." He added with a small chuckle.

For a few minutes, the two sat in silence. Merely drawing comfort from one another in the calm of the noon day sun.  
But as we all know, Naru can only sit still for so long before the overwhelming urge to do something activates. Gently she pulled out of Kiba's embrace and planted a peck on his cheek.

"Come on Kiba, I'll introduce you to the fifth hokage!" She said cheerily, pulling him to his feet. She raced them both to the hokage tower in search of Tsunade, the slug sannin.  
On the way she told him of her travels in search of her and of the new jutsu she had learned. She was just getting into the bet she had made to master the technique in a single week when she ran right into Shikamaru and his father.  
Bowling them both over.

"Shika!" Naru gasped. "Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" She helped them up just as Kiba decided it was safe to drop down to the stair case with her.  
"Troublesome girl." The Nara's simultaniously muttered.

Tsunade whiped the grin off her face before the group turned to face her. "Lady Tsunade, a pleasure to see you again." Shikaku said politely.  
Shikamaru raised a brow before turning to the troublesome girl who always seemed to know what was going on when things were troublesome.  
None other than Naru Uzumaki.

"Hey Naru, why is my dad talking to that lady like she's his boss?" He yawned/asked curiously. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kiba eyeing the strange woman like he was expecting her to blow up or something.

"Oh, that's grandma Tsunade!" Naru answered happily. "She's the fifth hokage. Oh, and she's not really a young lady, she's actually about fifty years old under some kind of henge seal."  
Shikamaru almost face-faulted on the cool calm way she spoke. this was the fifth hokage? A woman? Oh dear clouds, this was going to be torment!  
Girls were always so troublesome and they were always a major drag to be around!

"Hey Tsunade-baa-chan!" Naru whined, forgetting about both Nara's and the Inuzuka. "Your suppossed to get to the hospital and heal Sasuke, Kakashi, and Lee!"  
She began to tug Tsunade into the direction of the hospital but nearly fell down the stairs. Only Kiba grabbing her around the waist saved her from a nasty fall.  
Thus leaving everyone present to see both kids in a rather embarrassing position. Kiba holding her aloft by one arm, grabbing her other shoulder with his other one, looking directly down at her face, a couple inches away.  
Naru leaning back with one leg slightly lifted, staring upward into Kiba's courageous brown eyes.

Tsunade looked between the two blushing faces before an 'evil' smile donned her face. This was just too too rich! The great Naru Uzumaki, future hokage, was in love!  
Oh and not with just anybody, but with an Inuzuka heir! It was enough to tickle her pink! Carefully schooling her expression while Kiba helped Naru back up she saved that little tid-bit under 'Black mail'.

An hour later, both Kakashi and Sasuke were up and about again and Tsunade was just heading to Lee's room. Gai could hardly believe his luck that the greatest medic-nin to ever live was going to heal his student.  
If anyone deserved to regain his health and start training once more. It was Lee.

While Tsunade attempted to convince Lee against the surgery, Naru wandered off back to her apartment. It was spick and span and the fridge was freshly stocked again.  
The graffiti was gone but she could still picture it still on the walls. This was one of those days when she began to doubt herself. Doubt that she could change their minds.  
Doubt that she would ever be anything more...than a demon.

.  
LC; Ta Daa!  
Naruto; Gets a little angsty don't it?  
LC;...Stuff you!  
Sasuke; Can't you go one chapter without riding on eachother?  
Both; No.  
Tsunade; I liked it.  
LC; That's cause you got to beat up an alien.  
Tsunade; Do the sneak peek.  
LC; Next time, on a Kunoichi's Tail! What will Lee's choice be? How is Kiba really taking Naru's biggest secret? What about Sakura? What will Naru do next? And how will she deal with Konohamaru's hissy fit? Find out next time, on a Kunoichi's Tail!


	17. Chapter 17

LC; Welcome back!  
Naruto; To a show unlike anyother!  
Sakura; With strange twists and turns at every corner!  
Sasuke; Leaving you satisfied everytime!  
LC; This.  
Naruto; Is.  
Sakura; A Kunoichi's...  
Sasuke; Tail.  
LC; As rich as a queen it's chapter seventeen!  
Disclaimer; Nope, I don't own them. Just the idea. I will sue if anyone uses my ideas...NOT! I don't really care.

Chapter 17; Choices and Changes.

It was a normal day in Konoha. Yep, the birds were singing, the dogs barking, the ninjas fighting, and Tsunade was screaming at the top of her lungs...whoa, wait a sec there.  
Tsunade screaming at the top of her lungs? That's new. Wanna see what's happening?

"NARU UZUMAKI WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET EVER MEETING ME!" The afore threatened Naru was hiding in the ear of the Fourth hokage trying not to burst into loud fits of laughter.  
Truly her best work yet.  
Although, maybe dying a sannin's hair to look like the exact shade of neon orange she wore wasn't the best house warming present she could've given.  
But hey, she was bored, the dye was in her closet begging to be used, and Tsunade was in a drunken stupor in her new house.  
So, when someone using Uzumaki Logic put those together, you got an orange headed sannin. With black whisker marks painted on using permanant marker on each cheek, of course. She always signed her work.

As for why she was hiding in the Fourth hokage's ear, well, it was the first place she could think of that Tsunade wouldn't automatically bash into bite sized pieces.  
That, and she had another 'den' there. By her definition of den, that meant that it was equipped to sustain her for at least a week without her having to leave.  
It had everything she needed, except a toilet.

Kyubi smiled again as he recalled the prank that had won the sannin's wrath. Truly a work of art. It completely escaped him how_ the-boobs-with-a-ninja-attached_ could possibly dislike it!  
His kit really had an eye for what went well together. The shade of red Tsunade went upon seeing her reflection perfectly matched the neon orange of her hair.  
Though he was slightly apprehensive about pissing off the hokage. Even if she wasn't officialy initiated yet.  
Sighing, he shook his head ruefully and thought back to her face when she saw the flash of the camera.

Meanwhile, Lee could be found standing against the railing of team seven's bridge. He looked down at the water flowing below and thought about the risk of the surgery.  
One mistake, and he could die. Was he really ready to take such a risk? And if he didn't choose the surgery, he would be forced to relinquish his dream of being a successful shinobi. His dream would shatter.

Naru had just decided it was semi-safe to go find a toilet when she found Lee leaning against the railing of the bridge. She automatically hid behind a post on reflex.  
Not a moment later Sakura showed up with a bouqet of flowers.

"The nurses said you never showed up to rehabilitation." Sakura said kindly. "I brought these for you."  
Lee turned to accept them but his leg bumped against his crutches and he fell down. Sakura helped him straghten up and handed him the flowers.  
"I hope you get well soon, we need all the shinobi we can get." She encouraged kindly.

Naru watched sadly as Lee pulled petal after petal off of the flowers. Under his breath he chanted. "Success. Failure. Success. Failure." Over and over again.  
Gathering her courage to face the green leotard, she stepped out of hiding.

"Hey Lee." She greeted him happily, watching him visibly jump, almost dropping his current flower. "There something you wanna talk about?"  
Lee turned his head away and stared down at the running water. "Naru, what is your dream?" He finally asked.  
"To be accepted as who I am, not what I wield." She answered seriously. "To finally be seen and respected."  
Lee listened to the girl with brilliant flames of youth tell him about her dream. It was truly a goal worthy of youthfulness. But it also raised a question.

"Why aren't you accepted now?" He asked curiously, for once not yelling at the top of his lungs.  
"Because when they see me, they see something I have." She told him mystically. "Something that they don't trust and don't understand. People fear what they don't understand. And what they fear, they hate."  
Later that day, Lee was confronted by his sensei on his answer about the surgery. He looked up seriously, determindedly, into his sensei's eyes.

"I have a dream to fulfill." He told Gai. "If I let that dream die, it's a mockery to all those other people who have dreams! I will go through with this surgery!"

But meanwhile, Naru decided going to the hokage tower with a sealing scroll full of sake would be a good idea if she wanted to go home to her nice, working, toilet.  
Inside she found Udon and Moegi trying to get Konohamaru to leave the hokage's office, which he apparently had booby trapped.  
Chuckling slightly at his amatuer traps, Naru decided to help out.

"Konohamaru!" She called. "I just got back from this mission! Do you want to see the new jutsu I learned?" Konohamaru's ears visibly perked up at the mention of awesome jutsu from his boss.  
It was tantalizing, almost impossible to resist, but he had to stay strong! He had to protect his grandfather's office!  
He couldn't let some no face nobody take what rightly belonged to his grandfather! Besides, it was too soon for a new hokage!  
So he held firm to his post, not relenting for a moment. Though another part of his mind wondered what he would do when he had to use a toilet.

Naru was no novice when it came to booby traps. She hadn't just lucked into the title, 'prankster queen'! She knew there was an alternating trap above the door. It kept switching to make either pots and pans, or pepper bombs fall from a cavity above the door frame.  
No telling what was inside either. She almost regretted teaching the Konohamaru corps some of her tricks. The room beyond the seemingly harmless door could very well be her own worst nightmares!

So needless to say she was happy that someone else came along to take her place from bashing the door down. Tsunade didn't bother even looking up, she just punched the door through!  
With her bare hands she sliced the ninja wire without activating the traps and knocked aside whatever came her way. Naru watched as Tsunade stomped all over an exploding tag before it could go off.

Tsunade disabled numerous traps that Naru mentally wrote down to use later. She did this all without taking her eyes off her prize, the book on the shelf.  
Konohamaru thought for sure he was going to die. He closed his eyes, waiting for impact. It never came.  
Surprised, he opened his eyes in time to see Tsunade pulling back a single book and flipping it open. He watched in relieved silence as the sannin left, without saying a single word.

A half hour later, he and Naru were walking down the streets. "Konohamaru, if your that afraid of people forgetting about your grandfather, I have one thing to say." She said seriously. Turning to stand in front of her young friend, she glared down at him.  
Startled by the sudden look of anger, Konohamaru could do nothing but freeze in place.  
"Konohamaru Sarutobi, did everyone forget about the first hokage?" She asked him imperiously. "The man who founded our village? No! What about the second? Hell no! Hell, we celebrate the day the Fourth died! No one forgot these past kage. No one is going to forget the one that saved us from Orochimaru during the Sound/Sand invasion." As she spoke, her voice grew softer, until she sounded like a gentle breeze.

"Konohamaru, if your really that worried, we'll go talk to Tsunade-baachan!" Naru decided fiercly. "We'll make her promise never to forget the old man!"  
Filled with a new sense of determination, Naru grabbed his hand and began pulling him through the village in search of the fifth hokage, Tsunade!

They paused outside a nearby restaurant to hear the conversation between Shizune and Tsunade. "Lady Tsunade, are you, studying?" Shizune declared, shocked for lack of better world.  
"It can't be helped," Tsunade muttered in answer. "I am the fifth hokage after all."

Konohamaru froze upon hearing the words so long ago uttered by his own grandfather. Turning on his heels, he headed for the hokage monument, Naru close by.  
"Konohamaru, do you feel better now?" Naru prompted him, not over looking his sudden change.  
"It can't be helped, I'm the honorable grandson after all!" He told her, pulling her after him for a game of ninja tag.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, up until Tsunade found Naru trying to make her way to Ichiraku's. After a short, but painful lesson on why pranking the new hokage was a bad idea, Naru finally returned home.  
In the dirty apartment, she was surprised to find nothing missing, no graffiti on the wall, no burned furniture of any kind.  
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she simply shrugged and went to the bathroom for a nice long shower.  
Tommorrow would require a great deal of energy. Tommorrow she was finally going to see it.  
Kakashi-sensei's true_ face_!

**THE NEXT MORNING!**

"Come on, you can't honestly say your not the least bit curious!" Naru ranted at her rival, Sasuke. "It's a physical, incapability, to not be curious! Did someone shove that kunai back up your ass over night or something?" She asked him suspiciously.  
Eye twitching at the rude comment, Sasuke turned around and began walking away. Seeing his brother again had reminded him about his family's deaths. He wasn't in the mood to go on some crazy scheme that would end up with him being in trouble with their sensei. Again.

"Naru, this has to be the dumbest idea of entertainment, ever." Sakura deadpanned. She didn't have any training today, so she saw no reason to annoy the masked shinobi.  
"Come on!" Naru said disbelievingly. "What if he has blimp lips! Or buck teeth!" She listed the possobilities, fully aware of her teammates sudden interest. "Or maybe a super tiny mouth! Or maybe some weird scars or something!"

"Fine, what's the plan?" Sasuke asked, having rejoined his comrades. All thoughts of brooding and training in equal measures temporarily forgotten in the sudden growth of child like curiousity.  
"Okay, well, he can't eat wearing a mask, so let's treat him to some food!" She suggested happily, glad the plan was working thus far.

As they did so, Kakashi attempted to think of what kind of prank Naru had roped her friends into pulling on him. She already had those pictures of him for blackmail, so he wasn't sure why she needed more.  
That however, did not convince him to lower his guard as he waited for the chef to finish with his ramen.  
The bowl was placed before him on the counter and he warily eyed it, trying to discern any traps. He'd watched the food being prepared, so he knew it wasn't poisoned.

So that left the chopsticks, he thought. They must be booby trapped. Cautiously, swallowing his fear, he reached out and pulled a pair of sticks.  
Finding no giant piles of snow falling on him, no sparkles, or any orange hair dyes falling on his head, he breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Mmm, this does look delicious." He said happily, reaching for his mask.

Sakura's eyes almost bulged out of her head as she stretched her neck to it's fullest to try and catch even a glimpse of the elusive, no-masked Kakashi.  
Sasuke could feel the anxiety and impatience weighing down in his gut as he watched the hand move as though in slow motion.  
Naru had to fight the amazingly powerful urge to bite her nails.  
The wait was agonizing!

Just when they thought they would perish from the wait, Hell decided to deny them the awesomeness that was Kakashi's naked face by putting team ten in the way.  
"NO!" The entire world shook at Naru's outburst. Team ten froze in terror as Naru tried desperatly to move around them. There was no way a genin team with bad timing was keeping her from seeing her sensei's face!  
Sadly, by the time the team had been removed from line of sight, Kakashi's bowl was empty. And more importantly, his mask back in place.

"Damnit Ino-pig!" Sakura roared, her alternate coming to the fore front of her mind. "You have the worst timing of any and all ninja in the history of the world!"  
Sasuke settled for merely glaring with the patented Uchiha-death-glare at the two male members of the team.  
Shikamaru shuddered before deciding the whole thing was troublesome and dragging a shell shocked Ino and Chouji away from the ramen shack.

"It's not over, we will succede!" Naru swore feverently. "We will see what is under that evil mask!" Their flames of determination fanned, they set about making plans to use while on their next mission.  
Later that day, they decided to rest at a local inn to have dinner, a bath, and a good night's rest. First up, was the dinner fiasco of the ninja world.

"Kakashi-sensei, why don't you dig in?" Sakura asked kindly, her own hands holding a pair of chopsticks with some rice.  
"Oh, I'd love to, but you see I've started this new diet that lady Tsunade has all the higher up ninja on." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "But don't let that stop you, eat up!"  
With a subtle nod from Sasuke to Naru as a signal to implement plan B, all hell was about to brake loose.  
Naru picked up the kettle with the intent to pour a cup of tea when her hand 'slipped'.

"Oh no!" Naru gasped horrifically, watching the hot tea soar towards her sensei through the air. Inwardly, Kyubi leaned his muzzle as close as he could to the screen to watch the dreaded moment of impact.  
Just when everyone thought the famous copy cat had finally been defeated, Kakashi lifted the entire table, food and all, to block the steaming liquid.  
Huge, fat, anime tears streamed down Naru's face as she gazed upon the spoiled dinner so graciously cooked by their host.  
"It was so good." She whimpered sympathetically.

Next came the hot spring adventure, a tale Naru would be telling people for ages to come, surely. Surely this plan could not fail. No sane man would wear a mask to the hot spring, after all!  
"How are we suppossed to see anything if we're on the other side of the wall?" Sakura asked, knowing full well Naru would have planned for such an obvious outcome.  
"Oh, just using a little trick I picked up from Pervy-sage." Naru said deviously, thinking of her perverted sensei's bruises after she had discovered this disturbing trick.

Biting her thumb, Naru summoned one of the mid frog summons. It was big enough to stand on so they could see over the wall.  
"You saw him do this?" Sakura asked curiously, climbing up the toad's broad back.  
"Yep, when we were coming back to the village I caught him staring at me and some other women while we bathed." She explained, thinking back to the wonderful revenge that she had yet to put into play. "Remind me when we get back to pay him back for that, ok?"

Gazing over the fence, they watched a figure walk through the mist towards the spring where Sasuke was lounging. Sakura had to physically force herself not to gaze upon her crush's hot, sexy, fit, toned-okay, time to stop before she began a nose bleed.  
The scent of blood would no doubt send the elusive dog summoner on the run, or at least on edge. And nothing could ruin this momentous moment, nothing!

Except for the fact he had woven a towel around his neck. Kakashi would have to be a fool not to notice his students' ambition.  
In fact, he had been waiting for it. He loved torturing people with the thought of how he looked under his mask. It was one of his many entertainments. Even his beloved Hentai was nothing compared to what he felt when people tried to trick him into taking off his mask.

Sakura and Naru glumly jumped from the toad's back. After dispelling her summon, Naru decided to just go to bed. Maybe she'd get some new ideas after a good night's sleep.  
"Good night Sakura." She said respectfully. When she stepped inside the changing room, towel wrapped firmly around her body, she was surprised to find three sets of shinobi wear as well.  
'That's weird, I thought we were the only shinobi here.' Naru thought silently. 'Kyu, do you sense anyone else here?'

**"Yeah, there are three males in the spring."** The fox answered her immediatly. **"If they haven't attacked yet, that must mean they want to avoid a battle and are laying low. I wouldn't think too much on it."**  
Naru shrugged before deciding to take the clothes. Her Naru Uzumaki logic dictated that the shinobi wouldn't know who had stolen their clothes and the clothes would be fun to tear up to make more thread for more cloth seals.  
She conveniently forgot what using her Uzumaki logic had resulted in last time.

The next morning, the team was tired, ragged, and in a foul mood. Kakashi left them to their specific chores, but Naru found a way to convey to them her last ditch effort plan.  
"If we can't trick him into taking it off, then we'll fight and subdue him!" She told them, showing them the clothes she had 'borrowed' the previous night.

In their new outfits, the three genin left to confront the special jounin. "Kakashi Hatake, we have come to challenge you!" Naru declared in a rough voice.  
Kakashi turned from where he had been shoveling manure, glad for the distraction.  
"Who are you?" He asked disinterestedly. "I don't recognize you from any bingo books."  
"Uh," Sakura stammered. "Who we are doesn't matter! What matters is that we are here to defeat you!"

Three shinobi, (Who's names are unimportant) shot out from where they had been hiding in the bushes. Kakashi sighed before turning to face the new comers, who wore similar clothing.  
"Who are you?" He asked detachedly. Really he felt like this was the worse practical joke Naru had ever pulled. It was so obvious that it was his team in the first group's clothes. In disguise for whatever reason they deemed worthy. Though why Sasuke went along with it was beyond him.

After an embarrassedly short battle, in which the entirety of team seven blinked and missed it, Kakashi turned to the disguised team.  
"Why are you wearing those ridiculus outfits?" He really hoped they had a good reason for it. He wasn't in a good mood after having spent the last hour shoveling horse poop.

"We, uh, we knew those shinobi were following us!" Sakura declared bravely. "We decided to draw them out with these disguises!"  
Sasuke mentally sighed in relief that Sakura had thought of a clever cover story. Thank god for smart teammates.  
"Oh, I guess you did well." Kakashi said cheerfully. "Let's head back to the village, we're done here."

On the way back, a short conferance was held between the young ninja. It was decided that they only had one course of action left availiable to them.  
"Kakashi-sensei, what are you hiding underneath that mask?" Naru asked as innocently as a little half demon girl could.  
"Hmm, this mask?" Kakashi said stupidly. "Here, I'll show you."

**!The end of the chapter, to bad, so sad, go cry a river or get mad!**  
LC; Well, there ya go!  
Naruto; WHAT! We didn't see his face!  
Sasuke; You truly are evil.  
LC; Guilty as charged!  
Naruto; Do the stupid sneak peek thing. *Grumbling*  
LC; Next time, on a Kunoichi's Tail! The team travel to the Land Of Tea to help out an old pal! What crazy misadventures await them? Will our young heroin rise to the challenge, or be left in the dust? Tune in next time to find out!


	18. Chapter 18

LC; Welcome back to a Kunoichi s Tail!  
Naruto; Where the craziness knows no bounds.  
Sasuke; Where LC lets loose her rabid fox pets.  
Sakura; And where she enjoys tormenting each of us with filler arcs of her own creation.  
LC; You ve heard it all here and now, so to get that shiny sheen, read chapter eighteen!  
Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto. You have killed my ego, burned it to ashes, reanimated it, and then drowned it in acid. Congratulations.

Chapter 18; An unfortunate Cold and blossoming Romance?

**"Kit, you have to get up now."** Normally, he would be yelling at the kid to get up. However, he knew today would be a bad day to do so. The reason would be that this was one of the rare occasions in which Naru got a cold.

"Quiet Kyu." Naru mumbled sleepily.

"'m tired." Grammar notwithstanding, he already knew it would have been a worthless endeavor so he was not too surprised.  
Last time she d gotten sick, she d been in bed for a week. That was when she had first entered the academy. Usually thanks to him, she did not get sick. However, not even the Kyubi no Kitsune could stop every bacterium she inhaled during her nightly training.  
So instead he simply allowed her to go back to sleep. Besides, his kit had been working herself into the ground ever since she had graduated. He was amazed she had gone this long without falling victim to her fatigue.  
Too bad he had no way to keep team seven searching for their missing teammate.

Kakashi had arrived to the training ground to a very rare and unwelcome sight. Sasuke and Sakura were both where they should have been, however, miss Naru was MIA it seemed.  
He sighed before lamenting over the loss of reading this would no doubt cause before heading over to the remaining members.

"Since Naru seems to be running late, why don t we go to her apartment and pick her up?" He suggested, sensing his other students were worried about their blonde imouto.  
They nodded and followed his lead. Sasuke gave no outward appearance of caring about her, although on the inside it was another matter entirely. Naru never showed up after Kakashi. Sakura was more verbal about it and kept asking Kakashi-sensei why Naru would miss practice.

They all kept quiet as they reached the dump that passed for Naru s apartment. Sasuke and Sakura had been there before, but they never really gave it a good once over last time.  
The place was practically falling apart at the seams and it seemed questionable over whether the stairs could even hold their weight or not.  
They located her apartment quickly and were shocked to find the insane amount of graffiti on the walls and door. Demon brat Bitch and Curse were just a few of the many curses brought onto her head.

They found the spare key and walked into the apartment. Just as before they were momentarily shocked about the tidiness of the entire house.

"Naru, are you here?" Sakura called out, walking to the bedroom, thinking maybe she had over slept or something.  
She walked inside and was rewarded with the sight of a coughing Naru lying under the covers with her back to the door. She motioned for the guys to wait as she could not tell if Naru was wearing anything suitable or not yet.  
She was surprised to find that Naru was wearing the exact same clothes from yesterday s training session, which meant she hadn t had the energy to take a shower and change.  
Without thinking about it, she placed a hand on her blonde friend s forehead and was unpleasantly surprised to find how warm it felt.

"Naru's running a fever." She announced to the just entering males.

"My guess is she got sick last night and just crawled into bed." Kakashi put his book into his pouch, which showed he was at least concerned for his student.  
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the sleeping be-whiskered maiden before rolling his eyes and snorting. It figured that the one girl who would never accept bed rest would be the one to catch a cold.

"Well then, I guess we'll have to report this to lady hogake so she can assign it to someone as a mission to take care of her." Kakashi sighed, this was going to be a lot of paperwork. Why oh why did the old hogake make that law that stated jounin senseis had to pay for care when their genin was sick?  
Why couldn't the money come out of Naru's pocket instead? She was the one who went and got sick!

After reporting the new development to the hogake, Kakashi gave her the money to assign some unlucky genin to watch her for the day.  
Not ten minutes later Kurenai and her team arrived for a mission. Tsunade remembered the embarrassing and cute moment she witnessed between Kiba and Naru and congratulated herself on choosing a suitable Naru-sitter.

Sakura was planning on asking Sasuke for a date but found to her utter bewilderment he had snuck off without her noticing! She thought she was getting better at detecting other people's presence!  
Sighing to herself about shy lonely, coughemocough, boys, she bumped into Lee outside the tower. Lee, now without his crutches though still in pain from time to time, caught her in his strong arms.

"Sakura-chan, your Youth Blinds me in its Brilliance!" He greeted her happily. Then again when was he ever _not_ happy? Does it really matter?

"Uh, hi Lee." She said reluctantly. She wanted to go find Sasuke, or at least find some money to go shopping with. She was bored now.

"Um...uh." Sakura suddenly found Lee very interesting. He never stuttered! He was always so confident and full of himself! _Coughhe'snotSasukecough!_

"S-Sakura-chan would you care to go for a walk with me?" Sakura could not help but stare as Lee held out a beautiful sakura blossom. They would be blooming soon, but not yet. Where did he get one!

"I'd love to!" The words were in the air before she could take some time to think. What if Sasuke-kun found out! He'd never go out with her because he would think she was taken! Oh but she couldn't break a promise to Lee now! He looked so happy!

Back At The Tower!

"Hello Kurenai, your just the jounin instructor I was looking for." Tsunade greeted her warmly. "You see, Naru is ill and I want to assign one of your genin to take care of her until she is better."

"Which one did you have in mind lady hogake?" Of course, Kurenai knew. She had seen Kiba and Naru walking around the village together and had deduced their 'secret' relationship.  
For a ninja village, the secrets aren't very well kept.

"Kiba Inuzuka, will you accept this mission?" Kiba gaped as he remembered the first time meeting the hogake and what she had seen. It was like some kind of match making scheme!  
Still, if he got to spend some one on one time with Naru, it would be totally worth it.

"Sure!" He said enthusiastically, surprising his two teammates. Never before had they seen Kiba so pepped up for a D-rank assignment, and it somewhat unnerved them.  
Hinata was wondering if there was something going on between Naru and Kiba. Shino was subtly placing a few spy bugs on Kiba's jacket so he would get to 'see' what was going on.  
He was quiet, but curious in nature after all. He could not stand not being in the know about something.

Kiba left and Kurenai told the remainder of her team to go train for the day. Hinata knew Shino well enough to know he would leave a bug on Kiba and decided to quietly follow him away to wherever he was going to listen to the happenings of Naru's apartment.  
Shino and Hinata went to a remote training ground and tuned in to his bugs to hear the goings on of Naru's apartment.

Kiba burst through the apartment door without hesitation, walking straight to the bedroom he was surprised to find the bed empty.  
Feeling the first vestiges of worry he searched the apartment for a note or something. He was passing by the bathroom when he heard the unmistakeable sounds of someone dry heaving. Feeling slightly hesitant, he knocked on the door.

"Go 'way!" Came the rasp of a voice with an obvious sore throat. Kiba sighed to himself before opening the door anyway. Inside, Naru was kneeling in front of the white god handing over her offering.

"Hey Naru-chan, feeling sick today?" He said kindly, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Akamaru whined at the smell but he too tried comforting Naru in his own way.  
Naru merely whined before offering her newest offering to the alabast diety before her in hopes of being healed. She promised herself though that she would make Kiba-kun pay for treating her like an invalid today of all days.

Kiba helped Naru back to her bed. This statement is very misleading though. The figurative translation being, 'Kiba dragged Naru back to bed.' While the literal translation would be 'Kiba fought fang and claw to tie Naru to her bed.'  
When he was done, he was more tired than Naru was, and she had already fallen asleep! That woman was a fricking jugernaut of energy, even when she was sick!  
Akamaru could only yip in agreement, and pray his thanks to the Gods that he was not expected to be of much help keeping the young woman in bed.

Kiba watched her sleep for a while, relishing in the peace of the moment and in her calm beauty. The air around her body shimmered and for a moment he could see the edges of the strange appendages he knew to be hidden by genjutsu.  
He also knew that if Naru wasn't fully concious, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and Sakura all used their chakra to keep it from falling. Which meant that Naru was either out of chakra or only semi-concious.  
He felt the soft hair on her head, trying to feel the fur of her fox ears but finding none. That genjutsu was especially strong.

"Do you wanna see them?" Kiba jumped out of his skin but started to growl angrily when he saw Naru's eyes open and shining with merth. She had waited for him to drop his guard to spook him! Even when she was sick she was pulling pranks! It wasn't fair or normal!  
Did she _ever_ rest!

"Naru-chan, do you have to prank your poor boyfriend?" Kiba pouted, using the puppy eyes jutsu to try to get her to promise not to prank him anymore. He was tired of living in fear of the great pranking queen! As are we all.

"Kiba-kun, you can not put a leash on a fox." Naru said wisely, tossing off the genjutsu to show her foxy looks. He smirked before sitting next to her and petting her head.

"I always thought the whisker marks made you look exotic but this is getting ridiculous." Kiba muttered. He subtly turned his gaze to the tail sticking out of her pants and had to immediatly look away or risk having a nose bleed.  
Truly the most formiddable weapon was the smexiness of animal parts on hot females! Curse you puberty! Curse you hormones!

"Don't stare Kiba-kun!" Naru scolded him, wagging her tail at him. She suddenly broke out into a coughing fit, causing Kiba to worry over her like a mother hen.  
He pounded on her back till she got to breathing normally again. When she did he sighed a little in relief and told her to get some sleep.  
She replaced the genjutsu in case anyone came by and obediantly lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

"You always work yourself too hard." Kiba muttered, still petting her soft hair. Akamaru barked something, causing Kiba to chuckle happily. "I know, but that doesn't mean it's not true."

On the other end of the bug line, Shino had just finished relaying the conversation. By now, both he and Hinata realized that the two had a romantic situation about them.  
Shino sent a telepathic message to his bugs to return. He had his answer and he did not want to betray his friend's trust.  
This was when he noticed how close Hinata was. His bugs buzzing around in his head told him he did not feel uncomfortable with the contact, yet he still felt nervous as well.

"S-Shino-k-kun, do you t-th-think N-Naru-chan a-and K-K-Kiba-kun are d-dating?" Hinata stuttered nervously, looking down at her feet. Shino gave her his opinion and an awkward silence pursued.

They chose to seperate for their individual training sessions then. Hinata left that training ground to Shino as she could tell it would be a good place for him to find new bugs.  
She went to another remote ground where she thought she could find some solitude. However in the next ground she tried, she found Sasuke already training. He was busy trying to make his chakra capacity grow from the looks of things. He was sitting upside down on a tree branch, meditating.

Hinata was about to leave, nervous about being near her secret crush, but he called out to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I c-c-c-came here t-to train." She told him, pushing her fingertips together and fidgeting under his cool gaze. Those eyes seemed to stare into her very soul and it made her feel very exposed.

"I-I'll leave if y-you d-d-don't want me here." She suggested, stepping back already. "S-sorry for d-disturbing you!"

"You can train here if you want, I don't mind." She managed to look upwards at his steady gaze to find he had already closed his eyes again.  
Not wanting to seem ungrateful, Hinata began training. Unaware that Sasuke watched her the whole time.

Kiba must have dozed off, because when he opened his eyes, Naru was not in bed. He was. How she had managed to lay him in her bed and pull the covers over him without waking him though, he had no clue.  
He shot up and noticed Akamaru sleeping on his chest too late to stop him flying off the bed. Luckily for the puppy though he didn't fly into the wall, that would have hurt.

"Naru?" He called out, hoping she hadn't run off for training. Girlfriend she may have been but damn it if she wasn't trying his patience! Why did she have to run off and leave him behind! She should be in bed!  
He ran through the apartment until he found her in front of the toilet. Feeling a sense of deja vu, he carried her back to bed to try to sleep off her cold.  
While she didn't get sick often, when she got sick she really got sick!

"I don't wanna stay in bed." Naru grumbled, feeling her eye lids drooping no matter her efforts to stay awake. She hated staying in bed all day!

"Your sick, to get better you have to stay in bed!" Kiba ordered her stubbornly, standing vigil over her form. No way was she leaving again, next time she might leave the apartment and lady Tsunade would kill him!  
He had no wish to be turned into a puddle of goo on the road, thank you very much! He rather enjoyed being 3-D!

"Bed's borin'." Naru mumbled, succumbing to sleep's sweet embrace. Kiba heaved a silent sigh of relief, maybe now she'd stay in bed. Hopefully she'd get better soon, he wasn't sure how much more he could take.  
Akamaru whined sympathetically for his master's plight. He recieved a pat on the head in thanks and they sat in comfortable silence.

And all across the leaf village romance did so bloom. For the hidden, the shy, and the loud, happinness was today found. By no means it will be a gentle road.  
Harsh dips, turns and holes await. But for today, if only today, happinness and love shall last. Good day to all, and to all a good day. After all, you know what they say!

The next day!

Team seven met in the hogake tower for their mission. Naru was over her cold though she wasn't talking much, Sasuke seemed unusually happy, and Sakura was much more quiet and thoughtful.  
Over all, it slightly scared the ANBU hidden in the shadows. Team 7 was notorious for being loud and obnoxious. It seemed unnatural they should be quiet.  
But what truly frightened them, was the small smile on Sasuke Uchiha's face. (The seventh sign of the Apocolypse! NO!)

"Man where is Kakashi-sensei!" Naru whispered hoarsely. "Some teacher he's always the last to get here!"

"Kakashi won't be coming at all!"

The End Have A Nice Day!  
LC; Woo, another chapter done!  
Naruto; This is truly your longest fic!  
Sasuke; How far are you taking it?  
LC; Just to about When Naruto leaves to train with Jiraya in the anime.  
Naruto; You aren't going to do all those fillers are you?  
LC; Why, but of course! Do you expect any less from one such as I?  
Sasuke; We expect you to torment us for as long as you possible can.  
Naruto; I think that sums it up nicely.  
LC; Next time on a Kunoichi's Tail, Run To the Ends of the Earth! The race is truly on! For real this time! Can Naru instill confidence in her new friend to be? Can they win the race to Modoroki shrine? Why am I asking you all these questions! I need to stop wasting time!


	19. Chapter 19

LC; Welcome to another riveting tale of strange vixens.  
Naruto; Welcome to a place where when the Hokage is away the foxes play!  
Sasuke; Welcome to a Kunoichi's Tail, where LC will torment us to an early grave.  
LC; That is not in the script!  
Sasuke; I'm not reading that.  
LC; Yes, yes you are.  
Sasuke; What will you do if I don't?  
LC; *Whispers in ear*  
Sasuke; Welcome to a Kunoichi's Tail, where mischief is managed.  
LC; Good emo. On to awesome!  
Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto. However that will end tomorrow when I sneak into Kishimoto's mansion as he sleeps and steal the deed to Naruto and all Naruto merchandise.

Chapter 19; Race to the Ends of the Earth!

_Earlier that same Day!_

A band of ronin were on their way for the leaf village. Their leader called for roll call to be sure all his men were present.  
As he had expected and feared, only one was missing. Idate Morino, the very one this mission was for.

"Hello there gentlemen." They drew their swords and flung away their straw hats to face a missing nin with an umbrella in his hands.

"You wouldn't be the fellows going to the leaf to buy protection for a young Idate Morino would you?" He asked innocently enough.

"What if we are?" The leader of the band questioned, preparing for an attack.

"I have a message for you. Stay away from the Modoroki shrine!" A rain of needles plnged themselves into their skin, leaving them writhing on the ground in obvious pain.

Elsewhere at the same time.

Idate sat in the higher branches of a sakura tree, inspecting the pocket knife in his hands.

'I won't let you down.'

_Present time!_

"Crazy old lady say what now?" Naru gasped, turning around to face the Godaime who was standing in the doorway of the mission room.

"Brat, that's no way to speak to your superiors." Tsunade huffed. As much as she liked the girl she had the ability to be utterly annoying. She briefly wondered if anything interesting had happened between Naru and Kiba.

"You have an escort mission in the Land of Tea. Boss Jirocho will be waiting for you and is expecting you by the end of the day." Naru's thoughts wandered back to the great Wallet Escapade. She wondered if she'd get to see thing one and thing two again.

"Isn't Jirocho the guy you owed money to who we met in the Hot Springs?" She asked the blonde kage.

"Just go brat!" Tsunade ordered, pointing to the open door. "And don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you!"

By the time noon rolled around team seven was already within Tea's border and making steady progress. Naru was lost in thought of who they were supposed to escort.  
She quickly shook her fox eared head clear and thought of more important matters. Matters similar to which missing nin they would face this time around.  
So far simple C-ranks meant at least A-ranked missing nin of one persuasion or another.

**"Hey kit, aren't you being a little paranoid?"** Clearly the Kyubi had not been paying attention to her career.

'Are you kidding me? Wave, Gaara, Tsunade retrieval, they were all C-ranked! We had to fight A-ranked nin each time!' Her tail bristled under the genjutsu it was under at the mere thought of her impressive track record.

"Hey Sakura, Sasuke, are you guys hungry?" She could smell the tea shop just ahead. She hadn't eaten anything the entire time she was sick!  
Or rather, to be more accurate, she didn't digest anything.

"I guess maybe a little." Sakura said bashfully.

"Oh what a coincidence, there's a tea shop right there!" Her teammates only shook their heads in exasperation at their friend's blatant manipulation.

"What can I get for you?" The matron asked her new customers.

"Dango for me!" Naru ordered happily. It was such a shame this place didn't have ramen.

"Just rice." Sasuke sighed, looking out the open door at the beautiful day outside. This was so boring.

"I'll have some dumplings please." Sakura ordered, the only polite one in the team as it turned out.

In a darkened corner of the restaurant, a young man whittled away at a piece of wood, carving himself a new toothpick. He watched with a hate filled scowl as the shinobi ate their meal.  
As soon as it appeared they were almost done, he made his move.

"Heh, the shinobi's life seems pretty cushy." Team seven looked up from their meal to see a young man a year or so older than them standing next to their table.

"What was that bub?" Naru growled, she'd suddenly lost her appetite.

"You shinobi are all the same, all a bunch of lazy asses-!" The boy stopped and seemed to take a second glance at Sakura.

"Well hey there cutie, I didn't mean you of course." He apologized, leaning over the table to stare in her eyes.

"Isn't it about time you embraced your destiny?" He asked her.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Sakura stammered. 'I don't need some random guy flirting over me in front of Sasuke-kun, shannaro!'

"You know, the destiny where you quit this stupid shinobi lifestyle and run away with me." He answered her.

"Sakura are you going to smack him or can I do it?" Naru growled, glaring with all her hatred at the boy. She was lucky she wasn't using her patented Uzumaki glare or he would spend the rest of his life in a coma.  
For a guy who didn't know what he was talking about to dis the shinobi lifestyle was begging for her to smack them upside the head!

"Sakura eh? What a beautiful name." The boy sighed.

"Look just get out of here." Sasuke finally jumped in. He only wanted to finish this mission and go home. There was no reason he should have to deal with uppity civilians.

"Whatever, being around you leaf shinobi made me lose my appetite." Idate scoffed. He quickly walked out of the restaurant before breaking into a run just past the door.  
He had to get some distance before they got the bill.

After team seven finished eating they picked their bags back up and got ready to head back out.

"Here's the bill." The matron said kindly, laying two sheets of paper on the table.

"Why two bills?" Sakura questioned.

"Oh, your friend from earlier said you were paying for him." She informed them, going into the kitchen to wash some dishes.

"That_ bastard_!" Naru cursed, laying some of her lottery winnings on the table.

"Let's get moving and find that bastard!" She urged them on. Using her enhanced sense of smell she picked up the trail but was astounded with how far away he had gotten.

"He's so fast!" Sasuke gasped, having come to the same conclusion Naru didn't dispute the fact.

Up ahead on the road Idate was relishing in the wind in his hair. The flapping of his cloak did nothing to deter his speed as he continued running from the ninja behind him.  
He doubted they were anything better than genin but he hadn't trained in a while. Besides, no need to have to give them the money to pay for his meal.

"Run, run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm Jirocho's man!" He cackled, turning around slightly to make sure they weren't close enough to have heard that.

Without his eyes on the road, he didn't see the root that he tripped over. He did however see the ground on the other side of the cliff rushing up to give him a kiss.

"It doesn't matter how much speed I got, if I can't watch where I'm going." He grumbled, after getting his bearings and realizing he was about forty feet off the ground hanging upside down from a tree branch.

He managed to land on his feet and was thankful that he hadn't injured himself too badly. How would he win the race for boss Jirocho if he had a sprained ankle or something?

"You've got some nerve buddy." Idate gasped and turned around to see the three shinobi he thought he had ditched standing right behind him.  
Something about the blonde one in the middle though, that is what scared him.

Idate had a tactic for times such as these. A tactic that worked without fail no matter on who he played it on. This tactic he had gotten from a wounded tiger on the road one day during his travels.  
He had named this technique, Crouching Tiger.

"I-I'm sorry!" He knelt on the ground with his hands on his head, shaking in fear.

"Bandits took all my money and I needed the food and then you guys showed up and I didn't know what else to do!" He said helplessly.

"Oh your kidding, all your money?" Sakura asked.

Crouching Tiger,success.

"You could have just told us that instead of making us go on a wild goose chase after you." Naru sighed, she shook her head. Sometimes she didn't understand guys and their inability to ask for help when it was needed.  
She would have thought more on it had a pocket knife not fallen on her head at that moment.

"Ow!" She cried, rubbing the new bump on her head. She noticed the gleaming blade and reached down to pick it up but the boy beat her to it.

She watched as he quickly took off what appeared to be leg weights.

"3..." Oh, he was not getting away with that!

"2..." She made a dash for him but she was too far away.

"1!" The weights dropped like hot rocks and a cloud of smoke appeared, obscuring their vision long enough for the boy to get away.

They gave chase but soon came to the conclusion that he was just out of their league in this instance.

"If I ever see that no good bastard he'll wish those so called bandits had finished him off!" Naru swore. She hated being made a fool of.  
Now that she had begun lowering her mask the people of the leaf had begun to respect her more. She didn't appreciate playing the fool again!

**"Yet you do nothing to stop it."** The Kyubi pointed out amusedly.

'Kyu, you and I both know what you just said means about a week in That room.' A thousand year old demon should know when to keep its mouth shut. Evidently, he did not.

Kyubi blinked and suddenly found himself inside a room that would make the most hardcore pink loving cheerleader swear off the horrid shade of purple forever.  
On top of that, he was small, pink, and squeaked every time he moved! He had been turned into a squeaky plushy!

**"NARU!"** Her teammates would forever wonder what made Naru grin like that as they walked down the road and entered the town.  
They would never get the answer.

They reached Jirocho's mansion and got an audience with him.

"I'm glad you got here so quickly." He greeted them, his eyes lingering on Naru.

"I'm Naru Uzumaki, I hail from the the village hidden in the leaves and have come to escort whoever it is I'm supposed to be escorting!" She said playfully.

"You haven't changed a bit Naru-chan." He chuckled at the girl's antics.

"I could say the same for you big guy!" She pointed out.

"Naru you shouldn't be so disrespectful to our client!" Sakura scolded her, looking very much the mother hen. Iruka would be proud.

"No it's alright. We met a while back when she was travelling with lady Tsunade." The man vouched for her.

"So who are we escorting for this big race?" Naru questioned, deciding her subtle question hadn't gotten through to the big guy the first time around.

"Ah yes, Idate should be back any minute now." Barely had the words left his mouth than the sliding screen door opened to reveal the same young man from earlier kneeling on the ground in front of them.

"Sorry I'm la-!" He cursed when he saw the team. The feeling of reception was clearly mutual.

"Your that same bastard!" Something told Sasuke this was going to be a long mission.

"Ah, your already aquainted that makes things easier." Like all adults, Jirocho held the innate ability to ignore any hostility between people under eighteen.  
Even if said people were shinobi and therefore as good as eighteen.

"Why don't you get to know each other by walking about town?" He suggested.

The group walked down the busy streets, three out of four glaring at number four of the group.

"What's your name anyway, unless you want me to keep calling you bastard?" Naru asked, after about half an hour of hate filled glaring.  
Her eyes needed a rest. How did Sasuke manage to keep a glare up all day back in the academy anyway? Did he actually train in the Art of Glaring?

**"It would make sense."** Kyubi put forth his own opinion from the room of pinkness.

"Idate Morino." He introduced himself curtly.

"Morino? As in Ibiki Morino?" Idate turned around to face the blonde girl. Could it be true? Was his brother still alive after all that happened?

"My brother, he's alive?" It was almost too much to hope for.

"Yeah, he was the proctor for our chunin exams." Naru answered. So, she'd guessed right. This was the elusive brother Ibiki claimed had died in an accident years ago.  
Why had he lied though?

"Chunin exams, bet you must have failed that test!" He proclaimed. No way did these three goons pass his brother's test. He hadn't even passed!

"Actually me and Sasuke here got to the finals. Sakura got out in the preliminarys though." Naru informed him.

"No way you passed?" It just seemed utterly impossible with his brother's final question of death! Or did he not ask it that year? Yeah, that must have been it.

"What's the deal with this race anyway?" Sakura asked, seeing many people wishing Idate luck for the big race to Todoroki shrine.

"The daimyo decided the leader of this town would not be chosen through fights but through this race." Idate informed her.

"The Hikyakuya clan and the Wasabi clan will send one representative to run the race and whoever wins, gets control of the village." He said sadly.

"Last year, the Hikyakuya won but now I'm running and I won't let boss Jirocho down." He vowed quietly.

Up ahead on the road, an old man was pushed down into his cart by three larger, younger men. Something about it really got on Naru's nerves just then.  
She wasn't in the best of moods to start with anyway.

"Are you going to pay that old man or what?" She questioned, stepping in front of the small crowd that had begun to gather and stepping in front of the old man.

"What are you going to do if we don't? Scold us?" The middle man challenged.

"Just go home and play with mommy before you get hurt." Naru subconciously rubbed the mark on her shoulder before she answered.

"How about instead of scolding, we move straight to spanking?" She cried. Girlish screams could be heard through the entire village in the next two minutes.

"Your lucky we don't like hitting girls." Again the scene opened up to the three stooges, who appeared to be unharmed.

"Yeah, you best remember this." Another warned her, tossing his wallet to the old man still on the ground. As they began to hobble away it was revealed they were covered in various wounds.  
Some of the cuts even had a green tinge to them.

Smirking to herself, Naru cracked her knuckles.

"Where are you going? I wanted to even up the other side!" She called to them. She took a few snapshots of the men running away before putting the camera and pictures back into their designated places.

"Wasn't that a bit overkill for a bunch of civilians?" Sasuke asked her. He'd never seen her pummel someone so badly unless they could fight back.

"Guys like them make me sick!" She claimed, clutching her stomach theatrically.

"Besides, they had it coming to them." She muttered, unaware she was again rubbing that same spot on her shoulders.

Idate made a mental note to try not to piss her off too much later. He might someday want to have kids after all.

They stayed the night in a guest room at the Wasabi compound. While Sasuke and Sakura slept peacefully, Naru's own dreams were disturbed with nightmares.

In it, she was standing on the fourth hokage's head, looking over the entire village. All was calm, the people sleeping. Suddenly a dark cloud loomed over everything and thunder and lightning riddled the sky.  
She could only watch as a fire started burning in the village and people began running and screaming, trying to find a way out, a way to safety.

She saw her, a her using four tails worth of chakra attacking those who tried to leave the village. She could see her friends trying to reason with her, trying to snap her out of it.

"No stop it!" She cried helplessly, unable to close her eyes to the mayhem she was wreaking below.

"The longer you stay here the more of a chance this could happen." She turned around to see Orochimaru standing behind her, offering his hand.

"Come with me, and I'll help you control it." She backed away, until she reached the edge of the cliff.

"Or, stay in the village, and wait for it to fall under you!" She felt two arms push her off and she fell into the black abyss that had opened up beneath her.

Naru jolted awake and had to stuff a hand in her mouth to stop herself from screaming and waking her friends. That dream was too real for comfort.  
Gaining some small amount of comfort from her sleeping comrades, Naru tried to catch a few more winks of sleep. Needless to say, she failed horribly.

END OF CHAPTER YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO HOME BUT YOU CAN'T STAY HERE!  
LC; Alright, another chap on the way!  
Naruto; Not bad! We're getting close to the climax of the story now!  
Sasuke; Good. The sooner we're done the better.  
LC; I also intend to do seperate fics for the movies too! Naruto; Damnit! I thought we'd be home free!  
LC; Oh, and then there's my personal variation of Shipuden.  
Sasuke; Your never going to let us go, are you?  
LC; Not on his life! *Points at Kishimoto*  
Naruto; Do the sneak peeks woman!  
LC; Next time on A Kunoichi's Tail! The race begins! What does this nightmare mean? Will it be the last or the first of many to come? Is something wrong with the Curse mark seal? Will Kyubi ever get out of the pink room!


	20. Chapter 20

LC; Okay, it's time for a Kunoichi's Tail to get it's annual chapter update!

Naruto; Can't we skip this and let you go back to the ninja turtles?

LC; Fuck no little minion! Now go be a girl for our entertainment!

Sasuke; You are extra mean today. Is something wrong?

LC; I am pissed and the only way for me to vent is through my work so you have to suffer.

Naruto; We're screwed.

Sasuke; Agreed.

LC; I have valuable knowledge for the world! Awesomenese is close to becoming a real ligit language! I need supporters!

Naruto; At the end of this chapter is an exclusive ten anime comendment section.

LC; I thought it was interesting cause it's something most anime have in common.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto he owns me and that is all there is to it so go away!

Chapter 20: Ibiki and Idate, a tragic seperation?

The next day the entire village had gathered at the docks to see off the two competitors. Fukusuke Hikyakuya was the opposing runner in the race against Idate.  
He was cocky, believing he had already won the race.

"Would the two runners line up at the starting line please?" A voice requested over the intercom. The two boys lined up toe to toe, kneeled down in a running position.

Fukusuke looked over at the brat running against him and had to stop himself from bursting out in laughter.  
He would win this then celebrate with a couple of girls by the end of the day.

Idate kept his eyes glued firmly on the supposedly calm sea ahead of him. Just as he suspected, the winds were against them.  
Sailing there would be tough considering at this time of year even the current was against them.

He looked a little to his left and saw the path that would lead to the Old Man's house where he could get the fastest boat around.  
Going that way he'd be away from the bad wind and the current would carry him to the island no problem at all.

He smirked to himself. Looks like things were starting to look up after all.

Somewhere in the crowd, a pop-gun went off, signalling the two to start running. Idate sprinted forward, easily outpacing Fukusuke as they ran for the boats waiting for them.  
Before getting onto the dock though Idate took a sharp turn left.  
Let that bastard go the hard way, for him it was going to be smooth sailing.

"Damnit Idate, where the heck are you going?" That was the sound of the annoying blonde genin following behind him as he ran at full speed.  
She was faster than her teammates but not as fast as him and still very far behind. She wouldn't be a problem.

He ran along the incline on the side of the cliff, not slowing down. Suddenly he felt something strange.  
He could have sworn he had already passed by that root sticking out of the rocks already.

"Stop you moron!" Idate realized the problem and immediatly made the release sign before continuing.  
Only now he could see a bright light ahead of him, the way out of the genjutsu.

From above Naru saw him dispel the genjutsu he'd been trapped in and furrowed her brow. It seemed like he had ninja training alright.  
Question was, why had he left the village?

She saw him heading for the cliff, not seeing the danger ahead and missing the turn off. Naru cursed and unsealed a length of rope from a seal sewed onto the orange jacket.  
She tied one end around her waist and put on a burst of speed after tossing the other end at Sasuke.

She didn't like the guy but she was being paid to protect his bastard ass and she wasn't letting him go running off a cliff!

**"I say let him die." **Kyubi interjected unhelpfully. He didn't like that kid.

'Kyu, I love you, and I respect you, but shut up!' Naru mentally snapped at the thousand year old fox. There was only so much she could take.

"Damnit Idate, I'm not getting paid to watch you die!" She yelled, jumping over the edge and diving down to the falling boy.  
Now if only she had remembered to properly close her kunai pouch to stop her weapons from falling out.

Yeah, if only.

She managed to grab the older boy by the seat of his pants. This resulted in a mega-ultra wedgie to end all wedgies.  
And Idate screaming like a little girl at the pain.

"Idate why did you run from the race?" Sakura asked confusedly.

"Didn't you see the winds? They were coming towards us. And this time of year the tides aren't favorable." He pointed out logically.  
He spoke as though pointing out something obvious to a child.

"So let me guess. You have a boat waiting to get around the tides and winds?" Naru asked sarcastically, her eyebrow twitching lightly.

"Yep!" Idate answered, falsely cheerful. It was like he knew that response would piss Naru off the most.

**"It's just one botched mission. You can make it look like he fell off a cliff or had an accident on the boat and drowned." **The demon encouraged her.  
He seriously did not like this kid messing with his kit.

"As tempting as it is to toss you back down that cliff, I still have a missiong to accomplish so lead the way and you had better hope your right about that boat." Naru said coldly.

"You've been in a bad mood lately loser, is something wrong?" Sasuke asked, one brow raised.

"I don't like C-ranks." She said, as though it were obvious.

When Sasuke thought about her track record so far, he had to admit that maybe she was right. He slowly began to wonder if maybe she was cursed.

"Remind me to make chunin soon so I don't have to go on C-ranks with you." He joked, bopping the girl lightly on the head.

"Your cursed. Every C-rank thus far has turned A-rank." Sakura muttered, moving away as subtly as she could.

Idate was confused and wanted to ask what they meant about cursed, but wisely chose to hold his tongue. Something told him he didn't want to know.

"Whatever, let's just get moving!" Naru ordered suddenly, pulling the boys up by their shirts and pushing them down the path.

She could smell the three shinobi standing in the trees not far away. She wanted to get her client as far from those three as possible.  
Though, something about them seemed familiar. She could have sworn she had smelled them before but she couldn't quite place it. Maybe she owed them money?

Eventually the reached another beach and tethered to a stump was a long-boat. It was a beauty too, and more importantly, looked fast.

Idate went to the hut nearby to tell the old man that he was borrowing his boat. The old man was glad to give it to him and hurried him on his way.

"Just don't let those Hikyakuya bastards win again!" He shouted to them as they floated away on the current far from the shore.

"I won't, don't worry!" Idate called over his shoulder, a wry smile on his lips. He wouldn't let boss Jirocho down.

"Idate, there's something that's been bugging me about you." Naru said after the shore was no longer visible and they were on a steady course.  
She could still sense those shinobi though.

"You said Ibiki, the king of sadists himself, is your big brother." She remembered.

"Ibiki never lived anywhere but the leaf village, meaning you must have lived there at some point." Idate was seriously wishing he had changed his name the day he had run away.  
It would be so much easier to deal with than this girl tip-toeing trying to figure out what was wrong with this picture.

"So what's your story?" It was such a harmless question when out of context. Yet for Idate it was the trigger to everything.

_Flashback no jutsu!_

He remembered running home, through the leaf village, the day he made genin. He ran inside, slamming the door shut behind him in excitement.  
He found his brother in the backyard training.

"Big brother, I'm a ninja now!" He cried happily, flashing his headband at his brother.

"That's good Idate, now all you need is to figure out where true strength comes from and you'll make chunin no sweat." His voice was not as grave as it was in the future.  
The smile on his face, so soft and kindhearted, would seem unnatural to anyone from his department.  
It was the kind of smile he only showed his little brother.

"Just you wait, I'll make chunin in no time flat!" Idate joked.

"You know how fast I am!" He recalled taunting his brother.

"Good luck Idate, at this rate you'll need it." He hadn't, and still didn't, understand what he meant by that.

_Flashback no jutsu! Release!_

Naru watched as sadness and grief, along with confusion, flashed across the older boy's face. Idly she wondered what bad blood existed between the two brothers.  
She wondered if brothers were somehow cursed in the village. It seemed to be a recurring theme.

She looked over to the helm, where Sasuke was standing looking into the distance. He was straining his eyes as much as he could without his sharingan, obviously trying to see the distant shore more clearly.

Sakura was checking the rigging of the sails and wisely staying out of the conversation.

"My story is not your concern. I left it behind me in the dust." Idate finally answered, seemingly finished with his flashback.

'Gee, wonder if I hit a nerve there?' She thought sarcastically, mentally rolling her eyes.

**"God he reminds me of that Uchiha kit on your team. Only he talks more." **Kyu of course was referring to the academy days, back when Sasuke was still a little twit lost in his need for revenge before Naru brought him down to her level.

Naru turned her still invisible ears towards their rear, where the three mysterious shinobi were sneaking up on them.  
She furrowed her brow before deciding enough was enough. She had to warn her teammates to be on guard.

"Yo Sasuke, can you lend me a kunai?" She called up to the helm.

"I just need three!" Sasuke looked down at her and nodded in understanding, he tossed down three kunai, but one had an explosive note.  
There code wasn't complicated, but it was effective.

"Sakura do you have any medicines with you?" Naru asked, now juggling the three kunai as she turned to her pink haired friend.

Sakura knew this was a message asking her to keep her medical jutsu at the ready in case of an emergency.

"Naru, if you have to juggle kunai can you at least not hurt yourself? I swear you do it on purpose!" 'Please be careful, we don't know how strong they are yet.' The message was clear.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Naru said, leaning against the railing.

"But where's the fun in that?" No sooner had the words left her mouth than she dropped the three kunai, showing Sakura how many enemies there were.  
The tag was a symbol meaning that the team was unknown.

No sooner had the metal weapons hit the deck than grappling hooks with ropes tied on started attaching themselves to the back of the boat.

"Cut the lines!" Sasuke ordered, already moving forward and slicing the many ropes.

Naru ran forward and began doing the same, leaving Sakura in the background to protect the target.  
The boat that had appeared behind them was swinging forward using the ropes, and as more were cut the farther away the vessal drifted.

The victory of having gotten rid of the boat was short lived as vageuly familiar shinobi clones began appearing on their ship.

"Do we know these guys?" Naru asked her teammates. This whole on-the-tip-of-my-nose thing was starting to bug her.

Somewhere in the Leaf, Shino sneezed.

"You don't remember us!" One of the funnily clothes ame nin gasped. They had been esctatic to learn they could get revenge for their humiliating defeat in the forest of death and they didn't even have the respect to remember them.

"Do I owe you money?" Naru asked suspiciously.

"That's it! Aim for the blonde one!" The leader of the group snarled.

Naru did what she did best, annoying those in close proximity to her. With a few carefully chosen and crafted taunts she tricked one into running headfirst into the mast.  
Another she tied up with wire, going so far as to gag him with a dirty sock she, for some strange reason, had kept in her jacket pocket.

The lone female of the group was smarter than her male associates but even she could only take the constant jibes at her wardrobe before snapping.  
She ended up wearing a pink tutu. Heaven only knew where the blonde kunoichi had gotten it, let alone gotten rid of her original clothes without her noticing.

"Aw, I think it looks cute!" Naru said innocently, her tail swishing under the genjutsu.

Idate watched the battle with a repressed sort of awe as he saw her teammates not even trying to join in.  
It confused him at first but after seeing her take them down using tricks and no jutsu, he reassesed his first impression of her. She was not someone he wanted to make angry.

He'd rather not be subjected to endless flashes of her camera while wearing a pink tutu.

However by now the enemy had been given time to cool down and attack strategically. Soon they began ignoring Naru's taunts, causing her friends to join the fray.  
The tide of the battle was turning though. Soon, a fire had started. Team seven managed to knock the team under the water but by now their boat was all aflame.

Out of nowhere, a kunai came flying. Naru and Sasuke were too far away to stop it, but Sakura was fast enough to get in the way of the flying kunai.  
She was struck high in the shoulder, but luckily it didn't lodge itself too deep.

Idate gasped when he saw the pinkette take the blow for him. Before he could say anything Naru knocked him out of the way with Sasuke knocking Sakura back as the burning mast finally crumpled.

"Can you swim?" Naru asked Idate. He nodded but didn't make a move to the water.

"Listen, swim for shore! We'll take out that team!" She ordered, giving him a slight push to the edge.

"No way! Your only going to use me as a decoy to save your own skins!" He accused them angrily.

"Your going to have to trust us!" Sakura yelled over the raging fire. Idate froze when he saw the flames but her voice had pulled him out of it.

As he swam to shore, he allowed his mind to wander back to that day. When his whole life had changed.

_Flashback no jutsu!_

He couldn't believe this had happened! He had been all set to take the test to become chunin, and then it went bad.  
His brother announced a secret sudden death tenth question. He had said that he would take it, that it didn't matter to him what it took to get strong. He thought that was the right answer.

He had been wrong. And it cost him so much.

Idate leaned aginst the building outside the academy, hugging his knees to his chest and glaring at anything that moved.  
Why hadn't his big brother warned him at least? Given him a fighting chance? Didn't he care?

"Idate, you shouldn't blame Ibiki." He gasped and looked up to see Aoi-sensei, his jounin sensei.

"Why not?" He asked bayfully. He was still angry.

"He only did it because he cares about you so much." Aoi tried to justify his fellow jounin's actions.

"Yeah right." Idate huffed.

"You know, there is still a way to make chunin." Aoi sighed, trying to comfort his charge. His teammates had made it past the first round, but not Idate.

"Really?" It had gone so wrong.

He stole the scroll and the Sword of the Thunder God, but then Aoi betrayed him! He said they would use the objects to become jounin of Rain!  
How could he have been so stupid!

Idate now lay on the hard floor, bound and gagged as he watched his once teacher torture his big brother to read the scroll.  
It was in a special code that only people in the T&I department like his brother could read. He hated seeing his brother in so much pain, he almost wished he would just give in and read it.  
Almost.

Then the fire started, seperating all three of them. The flames cut through the ropes, but burned his arms and legs.

"Run Idate!" Ibiki screamed at him, coughing on the black smoke.

"Big brother!" Tears flowed thick and fast from his eyes and evaporated in the intense heat.

"Go you coward!" Were the last things his brother ever said to him. He obeyed the order, and hated himself for it ever since.

_Flashback no jutsu! Release!_

Coughing up sea water and spluttering, grasping the pocket knife in his hand hard enough to be sure never to let it go, he made it to shore.  
He pulled himself up the rocks and after catching his breath looked up.

He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

Back with team seven, they were fighting against the Ame team. They had been dragged under water and for a moment it seemed they would drown.  
Then of course, Naru got the brilliant idea of making a whirlpool.

She summoned ten clones and sent them to the bottom of the sea, where they began forming the rasengan.  
This would be the first time she used that technique in front of her teammates. She could almost smell the irony. Well, if she wasn't in the middle of drowning she could.

The waters began spinning, knocking out their captors. Sasuke grabbed Sakura and made it to the surface, followed closely by Naru.

"Remind me not to do that again!" She spluttered to the dark haired boy. He grunted with the effort of holding Sakura's head above the water.

Naru climbed up onto the water using the water walking technique before taking the pinkette from her friend and running to shore.  
Sasuke, not having learned how to walk on water yet, followed at a much slower pace.

"Sakura, wake up!" Naru ordered, shaking the girl.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open and she immediatly rolled over to empty the contents of her stomach.  
Naru looked away. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight after all.

"Where's Idate?" Sasuke asked, surveying the surrounding coast. Naru felt a chill on her spine and stretched her furry ears as far as they could go.  
_There, _she could hear his pained grunts not too far away.

"He's in trouble!" Her teammates were up and following her without a single question asked. None needed to be.

"Yo, hands off the merchandise!" Aoi looked up from where he was about to finish off his former student in time to dodge the high flying kick of a orange blur.  
He remembered the Kyubi brat, though she had grown considerably in the time since he'd been gone.

"Aoi Rokusho, missing nin of the village hidden in the Leaves." Naru said gravely. Sasuke and Sakura took a step backward as they could sense the COD hovering over their friend's head.  
(Cloud Of Depression)

"Why is it everytime we go on a C-rank we have to fight some A-rank nin!" She screamed to the heavens.

Aoi watched with a firmly raised eyebrow as the girl ranted about the unfairness of the universe and the insane amount of missing nin that wanted her dead.  
He momentarily looked over to the girl's teammates but they just shook their head, indicating it would be best to stay quiet until she finished.

She certainly wasn't what he had been expecting, though he was somewhat pleased that she remembered his name.  
He hadn't known he was that famous.

"First I meet Ibiki's brother and then the guy that gave Ibiki those scars!" She shouted. Wow, she knew the whole story didn't she.

END OF THE CHAPTER NOW GO AWAY AND DO WHATEVER FIC READERS DO!

LC; Okay, I got well into the story line now.

Naruto; Man, soon it will be over.

Sasuke; Twenty chapters. This is your longest fic ever.

LC; So far anyway.

Naruto; I just felt a sense of doom.

Sasuke; I have a bad feeling about this.

LC; Next time on a Kunoichi's Tail! The finish line is dead ahead! But what other hardships will team seven face? What's with the sudden nightmares. Will Naru go to Orochimaru, or stay true to who she is?


	21. Chapter 21

LC; Alright, I realized I forgot to put the ten anime comendments on the last chap so here.

1: Thou shalt have one or more men of the perverted kind.

2: Thou shalt have a love triangle.

3: Thou shalt make the hero stupid.

4: Thou villians shalt never truly die.

5: Thee's hero shalt be short.

6: Thou shalt make the villian difficult beyond reason to defeat.

7: Thou shalt presecute the innocent.

8: Thou's hero shalt mainly be male.

9: Thou salt have one she-male present in said anime.

10: Thou wilt have two men obsessed with eachother but claim they are straight.

LC; On to my story now!

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto, he owns me. I would be his total bitch slave if he asked me to.

Chapter 21: Dead End.

"Look, you kids should just get up and start running because you can't beat me." Aoi said, his tone self confident to the point of ego-tistical.

"Take Idate here for instance, normally he's a smart kid and starts running when things get tough, it's what he's good at." He said, kicking the semi concious boy in front of him.

"When he tried to stand still and fight though, he put one foot in the grave. He's hit a dead end." He said seriously.

"So you think running when things get hard is the best solution?" Naru challenged him.

"I don't believe it!" She shouted angrily. This guy was unknowingly mocking her very way of life, and she would not stand for that!

"I don't care what you've done, who you manipulated, or what weapons you use, I don't even care how strong you are!" She declared, much to his surprise.

"I'm not letting you walk away from this intact!" She vowed.

While Naru and Sasuke confronted Aoi, Sakura began removing the senbon sticking out of Idate. Out of her pocket, she took the special antidote Tsunade had given her.  
She really hoped it worked for this particular poison, and popped one into his mouth. Instantly his breathing seemed to ease and she let out a sigh of relief.

It was short lived however as a rain of needles suddenly began to fall from the sky. Without even thinking she shielded Idate with her body.  
She heard the pained grunts of her friends and knew they hadn't been able to dodge as well. Not even Naru's enhanced speed could have avoided those.

"Whether you acknowledge it or not, you all have one foot in the grave." Aoi smirked.

"I'll leave you here to die in peace." He said, before walking away.

Sakura healed her friends as best she could, and they took Idate to a near by cave, out of the rain. She watched as Sasuke built a fire while Naru guarded the entrance, just in case Aoi decided to finish the job.

An hour later, Idate woke with a start, sitting up in his momentary panic.

"I failed." He muttered to himself hatefully.

"Aoi and Ibiki were right, all I am is a coward and a fool." He cursed himself. He was completely unprepared for the backslap he recieved.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up, leave that job to me." Naru was standing over him, an imposing figure.

"You haven't lost just yet." She pointed out.

"You have no idea what it's like for me! None of the Wasabi clan believe in me! I'm always alone!" Naru's glare deepened and she slapped him again.

"Do you know anything about me?" She challenged him.

"I've been alone since the day of my birth, with none but my own shadow to follow me. I was hated by entire village, for something I couldn't say no to. You have no right to say I do not know your pain!" She snarled.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the blow that would never come. He expected for the girl to beat him again.

"Idate, your wrong about no one in the Wasabi believing in you." His eyes shot open and he looked up into her eyes.  
What did she mean by that? None of them trusted him.

"Boss Jirocho, he trusts you to win this race." How could he have forgotten?

_Flashback no jutsu!_

It was a cold winter rain, and he needed money and food. Idate shivered, trying to rub his arms to gather some warmth.  
He saw a rich looking man crossing the bridge and smirked. He took out his last kunai and ran forward.

"Give me all your money old man!" He ordered, threatening him with the old ninja's knife.

He was surprised to be knocked down, his kunai falling into the cold waters below them.

"You poor misguided child. You probably couldn't peel an apple with that old knife." He looked up in surprise and caught the tossed fruit and a pocket knife.

"I know the look of a hungry man, and when a man is starving, he might do something he'll regret." The man said wisely.

The man turned away to continue on his way and Idate panicked. This was the first person to show him kindness in so long, he didn't know what else to do.

"Wait, please! Allow me to serve you!" He begged, sitting in a kneeling position on the cold wet wood.

He suddenly felt the lack of rain on his freezing body and looked up to see the man sharing his umbrella.

"What's your name boy?" The man asked him.

"Idate, Morino Idate." He stated formally.

_Flashback no jutsu! Release!_

She was right, if there was anyone who believed in him, it was boss Jirocho. He couldn't let him down!

"Naru, please, can you help me win this race?" He asked.

"That's my job." She stated.

They didn't waste any time. Idate found it somewhat awkward to be carried by a girl, but did not complain since she was pretty fast.  
Not on his level, but definitely faster than that other runner. It would have to do for now, he still had to recover from that poison.

They reached the stairs of the place where he was meant to collect the orb he'd need to deliver to the shrine.  
He had to admit, the stairs did look formiddable.

"Idate, you owe me." Naru growled menacingly before putting on a fresh burst of speed and darting up four at a time.

"They're just stairs!" He tried to argue.

"Yeah, just over a hundred stairs!" Naru agreed. She was the one carrying his fat ass, the least he could do was say thank you.

Below them at the foot of the stairs, Sasuke and Sakura gaped in amazement.

"How does she do it?" Sakura asked her other teammate. It seemed as though she never tired out.

"Well, no one ever accused her of running out of energy." Sasuke reminded her. They both sighed before waiting for the two to come down so they could continue the race.

The two came down, Idate carrying a small bag with the orb inside. This time, Idate was running on his own power.

"Move it or lose it!" Naru cried, unable to stop in time and seeing her friends staring up at them. This woke them from their shock and they both managed to avoid the speeding bullets.

**"It's looking grim for the Idate team but the Hyakuya runner seems to have slowed to a leisurely pace." **Kyubi gave his commentary.

**"It's gonna be close, who will pull ahead? Oh, Naru of team Idate has sprung ahead of their lead runner by a nose! Wait, Idate closed the gap, their neck and neck!" **He said excitedly. He was well aware that his commentary always got on Naru's nerves, but it was too fun not to do and there wasn't anything else to amuse him.

**"Idate has pulled ahead of Naru, he's ahead by a foot! Naru does not like that, she's putting in chakra to her legs, pulling forward by a forearm!" **He knew quite well that it wasn't the fact she was losing the race to Idate that bothered her, it was his commentary.

They made it to the bridge which was the three quarter marker. Naru looked behind them to see Sasuke and Sakura struggling to catch up.  
She then looked over to Idate who didn't even look winded and decided she would start on her speed training more seriously when she got back to the leaf village.

Her unseen ears twitched and she pushed Idate out of the line of fire of several senbon in the nick of time.

"So your still alive? I'm impressed." Aoi said confidently.

"This time you die!" Naru promised.

"I don't think so!" Aoi growled, tossing away his umbrella and brandishing the thunder sword of the Nidaime hokage, Tobirama Senju.

By this time Sasuke and Sakura had caught up. Sakura took point and put her body between Aoi and Idate, ready to defend him.  
She was the medic, meant to protect and heal, not fight.

Naru summoned twenty shadow clones and had them all attack Aoi, to try and find a weak spot in the sword's power.  
So far though, it looked as invincible as the legends said. She wasn't even sure she could defeat it!

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sasuke making handsigns, ones she recognized. Those were the signs for the chidori, his signature technique straight from Kakashi-sensei himself.

Naru's eyes widened as she realized that might be it! The lightning of both attacks might cancel eachother out, causing great strain on the sword.  
If there was one thing she knew about swords, it was the level of strain they could take in a battle.

"Sasuke, aim for the blade!" She ordered, summoning thirty clones to watch his back as the attacks flared to life.

What Naru could not have anticipated was the backlash of the weapon sending Sasuke over the edge, unconcious.

"He won't survive that fall!" She gasped.

Sakura ran with everything she had, and jumped down after her teammate. Using the tree climbing excercise as a base, she managed to hold the two of them to the side of the cliff.

"Sasuke, Sakura!" She heard Naru's cry.

"We're fine, just beat this bastard!" Sakura called up to her.

Naru nodded before summoning another dozen clones. She'd have to make this fast! They needed to get to the finish line!  
Preferably, in one piece.

While her clones distracted him for a minute, she created a rasengan in her hand. With this chakra based attack, she should be able to break the sword.  
She rushed forward, dodging the swipes of the blade and the falling bodies of her decapitated clones.

"For all our sake's this better work!" She screamed as her rasengan made contact.

"Rasengan!" Under the unrelenting force of the swirling chakra, the sword began to crack. The small crack Sasuke's chidori had made was perfect, and the rasengan had hit it at the right angle.  
The sword shattered, rebounding upon it's weilder with lightning shards.

Naru panted as she caught her breath, standing over the defeated and broken body of Aoi Rukusho.

"Naru, you and Idate get to the finish line! We'll be fine!" Sakura called upwards.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Naru reassured her teammate as she and Idate crossed the bridge.

"Idate, go at full speed and win this thing! We've come to far to lose now!" She ordered him.

"I'll be right behind you!" He nodded and put on another burst of speed. His feet seemed to glide over the air as for the first time in a long time he used his chakra to add to his already fast legs.  
He was almost flying now!

Naru watched as the older boy pulled far ahead of her and scanned the area for any more surprises. Smiling to herself when she felt that they were alone, she allowed herself to relax a little.  
She had been on guard since this mission began and needed a nap.

Wincing as she remembered her latest nightmare, she wisely chose to hold off on the sleep until everything was over and they were heading home.

She got to the top of the stairs in time to see Idate break the ribbon, winning the race. For the first time since getting the mission, she laughed!  
Finally this awful C-rank was over and she could relax and go to a hot spring! She swore, as soon as she got back, she'd tell Tsunade never to send her on another C-rank as long as she lived!

After retrieving Sasuke and Sakura, they joined the Wasabi clan for a celebration full of free food and drinks!  
It was a regular party, and though they were tired, they still enjoyed the feeling.

"How's your wounds Sasuke?" Naru asked over the music.

"I busted a couple ribs, I can't even walk without help." He admitted. He felt a little embarrassed.

"Without you and that chidori, I couldn't have beaten Aoi. So I guess you had to take one for the team!" She said happily.

He lightly bopped her on the head before saying he was going to bed. Sakura helped him, and then retired herself.  
Naru decided to go for a little walk to clear her head.

**"Kit, there's something that has been bothering me about the rasengan." **Kyubi mentioned casually.

'Really, what?' She thought.

**"I don't think it's complete yet." **Naru's brows knit together as she thought about that.

'What are you saying? That I haven't fully mastered it?' She asked the fuzz ball.

**"I think we can actually improve upon it." **She liked the sound of that, but for now she was too tired to train and she just wanted some sleep.  
Thankfully, this time it was nightmare free and she got a good night's sleep.

The next day, Ibiki Morino arrived, having been sent to retrieve them since one was wounded so badly.  
He loaded them onto the barge. Naru looked back and saw Idate standing uncertainly near the gang plank.

"I-Ibiki?" Idate said quietly. He'd recognize his brother anywhere.

"Hmm, do I know you?" Ibiki asked him, his voice gruff, yet with an underlying kind tone.

"Big brother." Idate sighed, lowering his gaze in shame.

"Only my little brother ever called me that, and he died long ago." He looked up in shock and hurt, but then saw a sad twinkle in his brother's eye.

"You don't have the eyes of a coward any longer." With that, the ship set sail. As he watched it float out of sight, Idate couldn't help but feel as though a great burden had just been lifted. One he hadn't known was even there.

_In the Hokage's office, next day!_

"Well you guys did well." Tsunade said pleasantly, showing them the money they earned.

"Grandma, can I make a personal request?" Naru asked out of the blue.

"Go ahead but whether I agree to it or not has yet to be seen." Tsunade said warily. This kid was too lucky, she did not want to get into another bet with her.

"Can you never send me on another C-rank ever again?" The entire audience was floored as the request was uttered.  
Tsunade had to admit though, at least to herself, that she really could not blame the poor brat.

Naru was walking down the street, thinking about heading to Ichiraku when she saw Kiba and his team.  
Her heart beat just a little faster and for once in her life, chose to forego ramen for something much better. It had been way too long since she had last seen Kiba.

"Yo, Kiba, Shino, Hinata! Long time no see!" She waved to them.

Somehow, Kiba and Naru wound up alone sitting on the stools of Ichiraku, enjoying two bowls of miso ramen.

"I'd like to rip that Aoi guy a new one!" Kiba declared. No one touched his girl, _no one!_

"Sorry but your too little too late for that. He's worm food!" Naru said, patting him on the shoulder in a falsely sympathetic manner.

"Well since your back, how about you and me go to the hokage monument tomorrow?" Kiba asked nervously.

Even though they were dating, he still found asking her out to be nerve wracking.

"That sounds great! There's something I wanted to talk to you about though." She said, her mood suddenly serious.

Kiba readied himself as best he could. In his limited expierience, when a female wanted to talk, it was usually a bad thing.  
She didn't want to break up with him so soon did she?

"Kiba, how would you feel about letting the cat out of the bag so to speak?" His confused expression, which she found_ so _cute, told her she needed to elaborate.

"I meant, let everyone know we're dating. I don't want to keep it a secret anymore." She said softly.

"I think that can be arranged." He answered, taking her hand in his.

Naru made it home as the Sun set after the entire day being spent with Kiba. She sighed in content as she stepped out of the shower and into her pjs.  
She lay down on her bed, feeling warm and happy. The nightmare from a few night's ago hadn't visited again, so she was feeling good.

That night as she rested, her mark began to glow an ominous purple color. Naru whimpered in her sleep, and sweat glistened on her skin.  
She tossed and turned, caught so thouroughly in the throes of her bad dream.

As a child she'd often had nightmares, but this was worse. Here, it was not the villagers attacking her, it was her, attacking her friends.  
Kyu, as much as she loved him like the father she'd never known, was still a demon. His chakra was corrosive, and could cause a lot of damage.

Naru kicked away the covers, so desperate to run from the phantoms of her mind. Unbeknownst to anyone, her curse mark had become more active.  
She clutched the mark, trying to dispell the sudden pain it brought. The mark, and Orochimaru however, were stubborn and did not allow her to waken.

"No, my friends." She cried, her voice hoarse with sadness and grief.

"Kiba, please stay away!" In his hide away, kept from the sunlight of the world outside, Orochimaru smirked as he felt his influence grow.  
In her bedroom, the mark had begun to spread. That little seal Kakashi had placed wasn't strong enough when she was so distressed.

He chuckled to himself and began the countdown to the days when he would take over his new body.  
The Kyubi healed the body exponentally, and he suspected he could tweak the seal a little, so that this body would not decay with a new soul within it.

Soon, he would become the very embodiment of immortality.

END OF THE CHAPTER SO NOW WE GOT KIBANARU LOVE IN THERE!

LC; Ah, can't you smell the love in the air?

Naruto; *Takes a whiff* I think that's the two week old sandwhich on your desk.

LC; Oh, I forgot about that. *Picks up sandwhich*

Sandwhich; Master~~

LC; EEEEKKK! *Takes out flame thrower and burns to ashes*

Sasuke; It came to life?

LC; Next time on a Kunoichi's Tail! The night terrors are driving Naru up the wall! Her patience is wearing thin and she hasn't slept in days! Will a careless word throw her over the edge? Or can her knight in glistening fur get to her in time? Find out, same time, same place!


	22. Chapter 22

LC; Welcome back my faithful readers!

Naruto; Aw man, she made it back to update on us.

Sasuke; Isn't this thing long enough yet?

LC; Fuck that shit, this will be the longest fic ever!

Naruto; But that's over 200 chaps long!

LC;...Maybe not the longest, but it will be long.

Sasuke; That doesn't make me feel any better.

LC; Anyway, now I have to think of embarrassing circumstances for Naru and Kiba.

Naruto; Oh, well that is the opposite of good.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto! Or the Ten Comendments of the last chapter. Those were for fun.

Chapter 22: Battle of Wills

Predictably Sasuke for his injuries was the only one admitted to the hospital. During the whole trip back though, both he and Sakura had noticed a change in their blonde teammate.  
She had become more withdrawn than normal, and didn't crack a single joke the whole boat ride back.

Now she and Sakura had gone to visit their invalid teammate and today it seemed that things were starting to boil over.  
There were shadows under Naru's eyes, she hadn't slept in a while now, so it was to be expected. Sleep brought forth nightmares that got worse as time wore on. She didn't need that, thank you.

Sasuke had been patient with his friend and teammate. He knew that there were times when someone just plain didn't want to be bothered and questioned.  
But he had been waiting the whole ride home, and now he was sitting in his bed watching Naru stare emptily out the window.

"Are you going to tell us what your problem is any time soon?" He almost winced at how callous that sounded, especially when he saw Naru momentarily tense.

"I've just been thinking." She said evasively. If there was one thing she was good at, it was avoiding the situation.  
She thought along the lines of an old proverb, that is if she ignored the elephant in the room it wouldn't bother her.

"I've got to go, I'm meeting Kiba." She said, getting up to leave.

"Stop avoiding the situation and answer us!" Sakura pleaded.

"Whatever's wrong, we can help." She whispered, causing Naru to pause in the door frame. She hated to admit it, but the nightmares of late had begun to get to her.  
It was to the point she was almost afraid to close her eyes, and that didn't help her at all. She wasn't like Gaara, who never had to sleep before.

"Damnit Naru!" Sasuke cursed, jumping from his bed and grabbing her arm, thus stopping what seemed to be in his eyes a retreat.

"How about a spar?" He suggested, trying not to lose his temper. Naru had him right where she wanted him if that happened.

"Fine, but let's make it quick. And put on your headband." She added.

He grabbed it from the nightstand and followed his teammate to the roof, where laundry was hanging to dry.

"Rules?" She sighed. She really didn't want to be doing this. At this rate she'd be late to meet Kiba.

"No fatal attacks." He shrugged. He had been training hard and hoped he'd at least knock a little sense into that thin frame of her's before she wiped the floor with him.

"Whatever you say." She nodded.

"Sakura, you referee." He instructed. Sakura nodded. Though she didn't like it, she knew sometimes a fight was the only way to get something through to their hard headed teammate.

"Let's get started then!" Naru muttered. She really wasn't in the mood for a spar with her injured teammate. Besides, she was going to meet Kiba later.

She made some clones on impulse while Sasuke activated his sharingan and they both charged forward.  
The fight was mostly one sided but for his credit Sasuke did is best. It just wasn't good enough to beat his madly skilled blonde teammate. She was on a whole other level compared to him.

Sasuke was knocked through a loop when one clone got a lucky sucker punch to his stomach, knocking the breath right out of him.

"Give up, I got you beat." Naru urged him, smirking. That caught his attention right away. Since when did _Naru _smirk? Wasn't that an oxymoron?

Naru meanwhile was beginning to question her sanity. Since when did it feel good to beat Sasuke down like that?  
It had been a while since she had even thought of him as a bastard, but now she actually felt good when one of her clones landed a punch. Something was wrong with her.

Her brows furrowed as she watched her clones bat the boy around. A twinge of what felt like approval came from her mark and her eyes widened.  
It wasn't the mark making her feel like this, was it? But it had been sealed by Kakashi-sensei! She shouldn't be influenced by it!

Just as this thought came forward another was pushed to the front. What did she care? It was a power supplier, she'd get stronger in using it.  
Making Hokage with this power would be a snap.

Naru shook her head and clutched her shoulder in pain as she tried to ditch that train of thought.

"Naru?" Sasuke panted, confused by the sudden reprieve from having his ass handed to him on a _golden _platter by the resident blonde.

"Damn." She grunted, forcing her blurry vision back on the last Uchiha. Second to last, she corrected herself.

It was so unfair that Itachi hadn't even done anything wrong and was presecuted for it! She wanted to change that!

"The seal." She grunted, dropping to a single knee in her effort to hold back the power with her will. She wasn't going to use it!  
She was not letting some stupid pedo-vamp take control of her! She was her own person!

"I have to go." She panted. She didn't understand what was going on, she just needed to get away for a while.  
She turned around and, still holding that place on her shoulder, ran for the hills.

"Naru!" Sakura cried as she watched her friend run away in such a panic.

"The cursed seal is breaking through." Both genin gasped as their sensei appeared out of nowhere before following after the retreating blonde.

Meanwhile, Naru had found a place she could at least relax as she tried to get the mark back under control.

'I'm not using your power!' She repeated this sentence to herself many times, in an apparently vain effort to push back the sinister hickey of doom.  
No matter her stubborness on the issue though, it appeared like it would never stop.

'I don't want to use it!' She screamed in the confines of her mind.

'Right?' She gasped and opened her eyes to see herself in the village. Only this was a much darker version of Konoha.  
It was empty, not a single soul roamed the barren streets. The paint all seemed darker, by a shade or two. The faces on the mountain were crumbling, she couldn't even recognize the faces.

"What is this?" She asked aloud.

"Just my humble aboad." Naru jumped and turned to face...herself?

This Naru's golden hair was a shade darker, and her eyes were like cold lakes, compared to the sky like complexion of her own.  
Her clothes were darker as well, using mainly dark blue rather than the light colors such as orange that she so enjoyed.

Another strange thing about this reflection of herself, was that a dark aura seemed to surround it.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"Why, I'm you." The clone answered empathetically.

"No, your not." Naru said quietly, backing up in face of that power. That wasn't her.

"Your right, I'd hate to be you." The clone sighed.

"I guess you could say I'm all those lovely negative emotions that you refuse to act on. All those bad feelings of hatred you bury inside you." The clone said, leaning against a building and watching the 'dominant' personality.

"Call me Yami." Okay, Naru was officially creeped out. On the one hand, this was insanely weird and cool at the same time. On the other, she wanted out, and she wanted out _now! _

Naru's eyes shot open, her breaths ragged, as she tried to figure out what had just happened. The pain from the mark was still there, but now it seemed distant, like it wasn't really her using the power.  
She was startled when Kakashi and Jiraiya landed in front of her.

"Come on Naru, let us help." Jiraiya said calmly, not wanting to scare his little apprentice.

"It's the curse mark isn't it?" Kakashi said, not really needing any confirmation.

**"Listen to them kit, your safe now." **Kyubi urged her from within the seal. Hearing the one constant in her life, Naru sighed in relief and all fight seemed to momentarily leave her body. For now she could relax and just focus on not letting the curse mark over power her.

"What happened?" She was suddenly aware of being laid down on a soft surface.

"Curse mark."

"Orochimaru." She could only catch every other word. The pain in her shoulder required all her attention.

"Seal?" What were they talking about and why couldn't they talk about it quieter? She needed to concentrate!

**"Kit!" **Kami, the pain was so intense! She felt like her bones were melting!

She felt a prick in her arm and surrendered to the sweet embrace of sleep. All she heard was one more word.

"Council." Sleep overwhelmed her.

When she woke again, she could tell it was late. At first she was confused about where she was, until she smelled the antisceptic in the room, signifying her location as in a hospital bed. The next thing she realized was that she wasn't alone.

"Orochimaru-sama has lowered her defenses enough, let's take her before someone comes to check on her!" This voice was male and decidedly anxious.

She felt herself being lifted and couldn't catch the small whimper that slipped through. Her whole body, every muscle, felt sore!

"Careful lardass! Don't break her with those fucking meaty mitts of yours!" This one was a woman, and a foul mouthed sailor of the highest order.

There was a rush of air, making her realize they had jumped through a window. Periodically she felt them land on some hard surface, which she guessed must be the roof tops.  
Naru attempted to move only to cringe in pain each time. Never had she felt such intense pain. It was like all her beatings from mobs put together into one cohesive bruise around her body!

Eventually they stopped moving and she was leaned against a tree. She took this chance to force her eyes open by a margin to see what was happening.

They were in a forest, and there was four of them standing just an arm's length away. They summoned some kind of barrel from a scroll and one took out a bottle of pills.

Naru tried to struggle when the one with six arms forced her to swallow one but it was no use. No sooner had the pill been swallowed than her body seemed to burst into flame.

"Ah!" She gasped, in too much pain to scream. She clawed at her throat for a moment as she felt a chilling problem begin to rear it's head.  
Her heart, it felt like it was about to explode! It was beating so fast! She couldn't breathe!

She was dying.

All she knew now was a welcome darkness. She was completely alone, not even Kyu could break through this wall of black to get to her.

A light appeared in front of her, and almost lazily, she reached out to it. It felt calm and welcoming, like she had once pictured a parent's smile to be like.  
Out of the light a figure walked, until it reached her crouched form.

"Naru, you beautiful, brave girl." The voice whispered, petting her head almost shyly.

"Mom?" She whispered.

"My beautiful baby girl." The woman whispered into her ear.

"Am I dead?" Naru asked the grown woman.

"So close, your at death's door." The woman corrected her. She wished for a little more light, just to see her mother's face, in the flesh.

"You could walk through the door, and you would die, if you wanted to." Kushina told her daughter as she held the small blonde.  
How many times had she prayed for this moment. The one time she'd get to hold her baby.

"I don't wanna die." She knew she probably sounded like such a cry baby, but she didn't. She had so much to still live for! She had promises left to keep!  
She couldn't die like this!

"It's alright, you don't have to." The woman gently reassured her.

"I have promises to keep. I have to be hokage, and help Neji and the Hyuga, and help Sasuke find his brother." She listed them.

"And I have to still tell everyone about me and Kiba." Kiba, she couldn't leave him. Not yet!

_Kiba's POV_

Shikamaru came to my front door and told me Naru had been kidnapped. He was assembling a team to retrieve her and damn it all if I was being left behind!  
Akamaru and I will bring her back! She's my mate! I won't let anyone else have her!

So far we had already been forced to leave behind Chouji to fight that Jirobo guy. It's not looking good and from what Neji said Naru is stuck inside that big barrel they were carrying.  
I will be damned if those bastards think they're taking her away from me!

"Damnit!" I cursed, putting on another burst of speed.

"Kiba, slow down!" Shikamaru called. I growled but did as ordered, if only by a little. We had to hurry! Every minute they have her, something could be happening!  
If they touch a single golden hair on her head, there won't be enough left of them to put in a matchbox!

The ones of us left are Shikamaru, Neji, Sasuke, and me and Akamaru of course. I would have preferred to have the entire village in on the chase, but apparently that would be overkill.  
When it comes to something like this, to an Inuzuka, there is no such thing as overkill.

_Later, grassy plain._

Kimmimaru fought the last Uchiha as hard as he could. The boy was crafty, and able to avoid damaging blows like none he had seen before.  
He knew the Uchiha had been his master's original plan for a host, but the Uzumaki girl apparently had far more potential.

Behind him, the barrel shook. Both fighters paused in their battle to watch a dark purple chakra seep through the cracks in the barrel.

"Impossible, it would take three days to break out." Kimmimaru muttered to himself. Perhaps his master was right in forgoing the Uchiha for this girl.

The thought had barely formed in his head than the barrel seemed to collapse outwards, revealing a fiercsome figure, covered in the purple chakra.  
Her hair was longer, and it had many red streaks running through it. Her genjutsu had been completely blown away, revealing her ears and nine tails, rather than the normal one. Her eyes were a dark purple, with catlike slits for pupils.

Her whisker marks were deeper, she had claws and two fangs were sticking out of her mouth. Truly with all the dark, demon like chakra whirling around, it felt like she had become a monster.

"Naru." Sasuke gaped, wide eyed at the new form his best friend had taken.

Hearing her name, Naru turned to look at the last Uchiha. The sight seemed to calm her almost, until she saw Kimmimaru standing nearby, holding a bone sword.  
The sight of his opponent sent her into a rage and she charged the last Kaguya with an unbridled fury matched only by the thing she contained.

Kimmimaru never stood a chance. All that would be left of him was a small forest of bone, left behind from a last ditch defense against the monster Naru had become.

Sasuke watched with a detached glaze after Naru finished decemating the Kaguya. He had to admit, the blonde had good timing.  
Another couple minutes and he wasn't sure he'd still be there to take her home.

"Naru, it's time to go home." He said gently, gaining the hanyou's attention.

Naru's eyes were unfocused, but she could at least recognize the onyx emo by his scent if not by sight.  
With a grunt of pain she tore away from the power she had been forced to assume. Leaving behind, only herself, all but exhausted.

"S-Sasuke." She stammered tiredly, swaying under the small breeze. The Uchiha was there to catch her when she fell.  
He put back up the genjutsu hiding her extra appendages, which he was glad to see, was only one tail again, and hefted her onto his back. It was a long way back to the Leaf after all, he may as well get moving.

Several hours later, he got them both home and left the sleeping Naru with her new ANBU guards and Sakura as he went to see how the other members of the team did.  
He was relieved to find that they had survived, but true to emo-ness did not show it.

Naru woke up again and panicked for a second until she heard Sakura trying to reassure her. For a minute she tried to place what had happened, until it all came rushing back.  
Rubbing the shoulder holding her now again unsealed mark, Naru had to wonder what this might mean for her.

"Glad to see your awake brat!" They turned to see Jiraiya walking into the room, following Tsunade, who looked ready to turn Naru's bone into bread.

"Naru Uzumaki, if I had known you'd turn my hair grey I'd never had agreed to that bet!" She roared. In truth, the genjutsu around her was shimmering.  
She barely had enough chakra to keep it going.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" The slug sannin demanded of her.

"Um...What are you talking about?" The last thing she remembered was being taken here when the mark started acting funny and then nothing.

END OF CHAPTER FINALLY! NOW I CAN UPDATE AND DO SOMETHING ELSE!

LC; *Sigh* School starts in two days.

Naruto; You won't have as much time for writing when you go to school.

Sasuke; Yeah, it's such a shame.

Naruto; A total waste of genius. *Later that night, a loud party is thrown through all of Konoha*

LC; Yeah, but don't worry! I intend to update every chance I get!

Sasuke; She's not giving up, that's one thing for sure.

LC; I know not the meaning of these words you say. Speak Awesome-ese and then we can talk!

Naruto; Just do the sneak peek!

LC; Right-O! Next time on A Kunoichi's Tail! Naru gets an offer she can't refuse! Missions are coming out of the works like mad and she has to step up! Hopefully she can find some time alone with our favorite dog boy. But is Orochimaru giving up any time soon? Or will the mark draw her back into the darkness?


	23. Chapter 23

LC; It's good to be back! I missed writing these wonderful fics!

Naruto; Liar, you never stopped. It was just taking longer cause you got caught up with a new anime.

Sasuke; Like always.

LC; SHUSH! *Looks innocently at audience* In my defense, it's a very good anime.

Naruto; The only reason she's here typing now is cause her internet won't work so she can't watch more anime now.

LC; Hopefully by time I'm done here I can go back to watch more...Um, I mean upload this.

Sasuke; *Rolls eyes*

LC; Ahem! Anyway, don't crowd for there's plenty to see, I welcome you to chap twenty three!

Naruto; Clever.

LC; Thank you.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto, he totally owns me. I'm his little cum slut.

Chapter 23; Picking up the Pieces, trying not to be left Behind.

When Naru was told everything about what happened, all she could think, is how could she be so weak. If she'd been able to man up a little she could have avoided this!  
What kind of future Hokage was she anyway! Who gets kidnapped so easily?

"We're going to have to reseal your mark but I'm not sure the evil sealing method is strong enough to hold back the level two version." Jiraiya informed her.

Naru closed her eyes and pictured the different evil seals she could think of and a few she had come up with herself but had not tested.

"Hey, get me some paper, I got an idea!" She said suddenly. Once the paper was procurred, she began the long process of combining already existing seals in a way that would not automatically kill her upon administration.

"If you cross the properties of the evil sealing method with the infinite youkai holding seal with a purification seal it should be strong enough to hold back the level two!" She finished a few hours later.  
It would take a while to set up but she was confident it would do the trick.

Jiraiya watched the seal appear on the paper over time and couldn't help but think. 'Oh yeah, that's Minato's girl, truly an heir worthy of all Uzumaki as well.' And it was the truth. He'd never have thought of adding the purification seal. That would make it so even if she did use the chakra, it would not be able to influence her and would instead be added to her original stores.

"You never cease to surprise kid." He said honestly, checking for any flaws but knowing he wouldn't find anything. When Naru Uzumaki did something she never made a mistake. Most of the time.

"What do you fucking mean I can't see her! It's visiting hours and she's not even in the ICU!" Naru looked up from her papers just in time to see Kiba and Akamaru barge in and slam the door on Shizune before she could get in.

"Kiba!" Naru cried happily, a grin bursting forth. In one movement she was half way across the room and she jumped into his outstretched arms.  
Without a second thought or a moment of hesitation, she met his lips and they shared their first kiss.

"Naru, I say this with as much respect for your strength as possible," The dog user said seriously.

"Never get yourself kidnapped ever again." For the first time in well over a few weeks, a real laugh fell from her lips. She hastily promised and then their lips met again.

"Pay up Tsunade." And of course Jiraiya would have already made a bet about their circumstances.

"Not that I'm not happy but why let the dog out of the bag?" Kiba asked his now-open girlfriend.

"...Actually I don't know. I wasn't really thinking. I was just happy." Naru chuckled.

"No need to kill the good mood on my account then!" Kiba smiled. Naru indulged him with a quick peck on the cheek and giggled when he pouted in dissappointment.

After the initial surprise of their relationship being revealed to the masses, i.e. everyone in the room, things quietened down a bit.

"So how bad was everyone's injuries?" Naru asked. She hid the guilt rather well, but everyone who knew her could see that she was upset.  
Kiba began rubbing little circles on the back of her hand.

"Chouji was forced to use his clan's emergency pills but I've neutralized their affects, he'll make a full recovery. Neji was stabbed through the chest but all he'll have is a slight scar. Lover boy here got himself stabbed in the abdomen but as you can see he's well enough to walk at least." Here Naru shot a pointed look at her boyfriend, saying quite clearly she'd see what this wound was about later.

"Sasuke here had a few bumps and bruises but nothing to admit him for. Out of all of you however, Shikamaru got the least amount of injuries. All he got was a broken little finger!" Did anyone else notice that Shika hardly ever gets badly hurt on his missions? That boy's got some major luck on his side!

"So everyone's going to be okay?" 'What a relief!' Naru sighed, allowing the minute strain in her shoulders to vanish on it's own and letting her fatigue greet her.

"You haven't fully recovered either though your not injured. You should get some sleep." Tsunade instructed half heartedly. She honestly did not want to seperate the two children, cause that's what they were to her, but Naru needed sleep.  
Besides, she needed to speak with this uppity boy about her grandgirl before she even thought about letting him within looking distance of her.

Kiba spied the maternal look in Tsunade's eyes and figured that he had to face the music. Naru had faced his mother, so he would face her mother figure. He just hoped he'd still_ be _a boy by the end of their chat.

"Kiba Inuzuka, I'll be plain to you." Tsunade told him once they'd gotten him settled back into his own hospital room.

"If you do anything to hurt Naru, no one will be able to determine the cause of death." She promised him before taking his chart and leaving Kiba to shudder at the implications.  
What was worse, since she was the fifth hokage and best medic nin in the world, it was very likely she could pull it off seamlessly.

Tsunade returned to do one last check up on the younger blonde only to discover the prankster queen had chosen to sign herself out by way of shinobi conduct.  
This meant of course she jumped out the window as soon as everyone left the room and high tailed it to the other end of the village.

"Damn brat!" The hokage cursed loudly, alerting Naru her escape had been discovered.

**"Kit, do not train until your mark is again sealed." **The aged demon wisely councilled. Wait, isn't that an oxymoron? Council and wise do not mix very well.

'Why not?' She asked, slurping down a hefty portion of her ramen. Did anyone really expect her to be anywhere else?

**"Doing so will awaken the dark chakra inside it, and this time you might not be able to pull away." **He knew she didn't remember, and honestly that was more his doing than random amnesia. If Naru remembered the power that had temporarily coursed through her veins, she would become addicted to the powerful toxin, unable to claw away it's grasp on her heart.  
And so he had personally sealed those memories, in order to keep her away from that darker path.

Demon he may be, but adopted father he was also.

'I guess I can see your point about that but now what do I do? Kiba is too injured to go out, I can't sit here and eat forever because they'll find me, and I have no idea what to do now.' Wow, her whole world revolved around training of some sort, which she now could not do. Man her life looked empty now.

Left now with nothing to do, Naru decided it was high time the prankster queen reminded everyone how she got the title.

"Hmm, I wonder how people would react to the entire Nara clan being suped up on caffeine?" Shudder and barricade your doors fair reader, for a monster has been unleashed on this fair day.  
And nothing can stop her.

THE NEXT DAY BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO WRITE OUT THE PRANK

Konoha, the leaf village, her homeland was a mess. Who knew that the Naras, given proper incentive, could wreak such havoc?  
Naru was numb as she consistently took pictures of very unique and well thought out traps. Or rather, due to the lack of pointy parts, pranks.

'What have I done?' She asked herself, seeing Shikamaru running around carrying a bag full of all the Hyuga underwear which he was now apparently gluing to walls, poles, windows, and every other vertical surface.

'And how did he do that?' Weren't the Hyuga supposedly all seeing? Man they must have a pretty big collective blind spot!

'Come to think of it, should I be taking notes?' The question puzzled her for a moment until she was again distracted when she saw Shika's father, Shikaku running around and waving a giant bra that could only belong to one woman.

"Shikaku Nara!" Yep, that bra must have belonged to Tsunade Senju, fifth hokage and known pervert hater.

"Run Shikaku run!" Naru warned the normally lazy man. Like a freight train without a brake that man sped off faster than the fully matured sharingan could track.

"Wow." She blinked. Hadn't there been a Nara man with a giant bra there just a minute ago? Where did he go? What prank would he pull next.

"Damn, I didn't get a picture." Maybe she could find him? Nah, at the speed he was going he must have been warping the time space continueum.

'Who knew that the Nara's had an adverse reaction to caffeine?' In her defense, she just figured they needed an energy boost. She didn't know that they literally couldn't drink coffee. Pretty lame weakness.

'Hmm, if we ever go to war, we'd just have to give them a cup of joe and point them at the enemy to win.' Especially if the enemy knew about this caffeine weakness.

'I should make a note of this for when I'm hokage. Now, how to get these pictures developed without making myself a target for the Nara menace?' And who would be willing to do it after it became known she was the one to give them coffee?

Giving up and deciding to do it herself in the safety of her sealed apartment, she made to leave her post behind a bill board when she felt a helping of KI heaped upon her.

"Naru Uzumaki, why do I _know_ you did this?" Um...because your a smart and very nosy bastard? Not that she'd say that out loud, but she was definitely thinking it!

"Would you believe I didn't know this would happen?" She tried. It was the truth, she had just intended to keep it contained to the Nara residence but one thing led to another and then they were all out their wreaking havoc without her! How rude!

"It's not a well known fact, so yeah I would. But that doesn't mean your getting of scot free." Actually yeah it does, since while he was talking she had switched with a conveniently placed shadow clone and was already running underground to the sewer to lay low for a few hours.

"Um...I regret nothing!" The clone yelled before promptly dispelling, leaving behind a coughing Kakashi to clean up her mess...Again!

He needed to learn to just grab her and go to the hokage, not stretch it out. She always found some way to wiggle out of his clutches and it hurt his awesome ninja pride to admit it, but she was damn good at it too!  
She'd better make chunin.

After the chaos of what would forever be shudderingly known as the 'Nara Incident', the hokage called a meeting of all leaf genin who had participated in the exams.  
It was high time to announce who would be who.

"Alright, now that we've finally got everything settled down after the invasion, it's time to pick the chunin out of the hopefuls." Tsunade announced once her office had filled to the brim with genin and jounin sensei.

"First we have team ten's Shikamaru Nara who showed amazing tactical ability on the field and knew when to quit to better be able to fight later. Congratulations, your a chunin." A mutter of a very tired 'troublesome'. It seemed the crash from the caffeine had come and went and Shika was feeling the weight. Of his eyelids that is.

"Next team seven Sasuke Uchiha, showed the necessary strength and conserved chakra. Also was a big help in later subduing the one tailed demon during the invasion. By vote of the many daimyo, you've been chosen for promotion." Cue smirk.

"Team seven, Sakura Haruno. You showed a good use of the basics and was very creative in the 'tags' used during your battle. Unfortunately those tags were one of your few redeeming qualities as it seems that you don't have much else in your arsenal. I'm sorry but I can't accept you for promotion." Sakura nodded. She felt disappointed but she kind of figured this would happen. She'd just have to start training harder.

"Next team nine's Neji Hyuga. You showed that you have the necessary strength alright but you were a little too cocky and that proved to be your undoing. I'm sorry but you have not been chosen for chunin rank." Neji nodded in acceptance and sent a subtle glance over to the blonde girl who appeared to be trying to remain unseen.  
She was still in trouble for the 'Nara Incident'.

"Finally, team seven Naru Uzumaki. You showed an amazing ability far beyond what many expected of you and an ability to withhold your skills. You've been chosen for promotion." Honestly it had taken some time to get rid of all the fake demerits from the council but at least now they knew not to bother with her ninja.

"...WOO HOO!" The chunin vest on the table was gone before any could blink and suddenly there was a cloud of dust where Naru used to be.

"Wow, she was happy." Asuma muttered. He hadn't even seen her leave! Then again, since Tsunade had been planning to fine her for the damages done yesterday it was probably better for her wallet to have left early.

Now that this chapter in their life had finally ended, everyone was eager to relax and take some time off for their own amusement.  
Besides, they'd be busy with more missions soon enough anyway. Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow? but then again, what is today but yesterday's tomorrow?

It's time for another chapter to open and for more important missions to be filed through. Now a chunin, her missions will get harder from here on out.  
Speaking of, it seems the story needs to be continued. Let's see what troubles Naru can get herself into now.

All around the leaf, everyone was training harder and harder. Though she didn't remember it, everyone else remembered that faithful retrieval mission.  
The results were showing too. Everyone was training their hardest in order to get stronger.

Naru herself found herself at the training grounds earlier and leaving later than even before. She didn't want to be caught off guard again, she had to be strong. Orochimaru wasn't the type to just give up, he'd be back.  
She'd have to be ready for that.

After a few hours of training, Naru acknowledged that she'd have to take a break, and so she decided to go and get a mission.  
After all, chunins get C-ranked missions all the time! No more D-ranks! She was free!

"Yo gramma, give me a mission!" She demanded happily of the aged female kage. Tsunade huffed before tossing a scroll at the girl.  
Damn brat, just one more hour and Tsunade would have won that bet against Shizune about how soon it would take for Naru to come get a mission.

Naru looked over the scroll and found it was one for gate guard duty. She shrugged before accepting and going to report to her post.  
Wonder what kind of important things she'd have to keep out of the village. Maybe some enemy spies?

Somehow, Tsunade knew something was going to happen and it would invariably have something to do with a very bored Naru Uzumaki.  
She just prayed the village could survive the upcoming storm. Turning her attention back to a demand made by the Hyuga to lynch the blonde, she remembered too late she still had not fined Naru for the damages. Damn.

"Well Naru, guard duty is a very vital job in the village. We make sure everyone who comes in is who they say they are." Kotetsu informed the young new chunin after she arrived. He and Izumo were to show her the ropes so to speak.

An hour passed, and no one arrived at the gates. By now Naru was bored. Another hour came and went, and now she was just plain tired.  
Maybe today was a slow day?

"Actually most days are like this." Izumo answered when she had voiced that question.

"What!" Naru growled to herself about the unfairness and evil of 'stupid vain grammas'. After about fifteen minutes of sulking she remembered she had brought a scroll on Elemental Manipulation with her.

And a piece of paper that was meant to test her affinity for said Elemental Manipulations.

She channeled chakra into the paper and watched it split into two and the pieces turn to ash. So did that mean she had two affinities? Ha! She was awesome!  
She read the scroll a little and found that the excercises for these affinities were different but both involved leaves. For the wind excercise she had to split the leaf with chakra, with the fire excercise she had to burn the leaf.

That didn't sound too hard. She'd get this down pat in no time at all! Especially since nothing was happening here and she was bored.  
She wondered if these skills could have any prank application ability? Hmm, maybe using the fire for lighting a fuse for some fireworks?

END OF CHAPTER SO GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND LEAVE THIS HALLOWED PLACE!

LC; Well that's done and now to work on something else!

Naruto; Man, you have a lot of fics. Where do you get those ideas?

LC; Many places, books, anime, movies, songs, all sorts of different muses.

Sasuke; Whatever, let's just do the sneak peek and get out of here.

Naruto; Yeah, I want ramen!

LC; Alrightie! Next time on a Kunoichi's Tail! These elemental excercises are an excercise in frustration! How long till Naru's fuse burns out? Missions are piling in and this poor new chunin is having a hard time keeping up! But she can't just sit back and watch so she'll get out there again! now if only they were a bit more exciting.


	24. Chapter 24

LC; Alright! Time for more Naru-chan!

Naruto; Man, when will this fic end?

Sasuke; That's actually a very good question.

LC; As sad as I am to report, this story has almost come to a close.

Naruto; Could it be true?

LC; You see, all those fillers are just too much for me to handle.

Sasuke; Is it possible?

LC; And so it is with great ceremony and proudness that I announce to you, the readers!...

Naruto; Here it comes!

LC; That I shall be writing a sequel!

Both; NOOOOO!

LC; This shall be the final chapter. It takes place right before Naruto would leave for his training mission thingy.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto. And I never will. But it doesn't matter, because I totally own this version of Naruto!

Chapter 24; Goodbye and Goodluck.

She always kind of expected this to happen. But after so long, after finally gaining the village's acceptance, she had let her guard down. She'd begun to believe things were looking up.

She had worse luck than Tsunade.

"Naru, I'm so sorry!" Tsunade wept sadly, looking at the girl from her spot on the council. 

"Danzo over rode my vote. I'm so sorry." She bowed her head as the tears stained her face.

After saving the village a couple hundred times, you'd think they'd appreciate her a bit more.

"You have a choice to either be executed or be exiled from the village." Danzo announced, his smirk distorting the X-shaped scar on his chin.

"Decide now." In all of her years of being who she was, and carrying what she did, she thought it couldn't hurt any worse. She always thought it was true that it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

"I choose exile." She was always so impulsive, but this time she hesitated in her answer. Would death have been better. No, not if the entire village, her loved ones, had to watch.

"You are to leave within five hours." Homura told her.

"If you haven't left by then, we will have ANBU attack and kill you." She said it with such finalty. They really hated her, didn't they?

"Turn in your headband." Danzo ordered her. As soon as she left the village, his ROOT would go after and capture her. Then he would turn her into his personal weapon.

Naru slowly walked to Tsunade and untied her headband from around her forehead. Before she left, she also removed her necklace.

"I guess I won't be keeping my promises grandma." She said sadly.

"I promised to change the way of the Hyuga for Neji, make them stop enslaving their family members. I promised to be a great hogake. Try to keep my promises for me, please?" She walked out, and as soon as the door had closed, faced her friends.

The tears were so unexpected, that all of her friends could only stand in shock. It was Kiba who finally reacted. He ran forward and gathered her up into his arms.

"Naru what's wrong?" He asked his lover. Ever since before the chunin exmas they had been together, and not once had he seen Naru cry. It was disturbing.

"I've been banished." She sobbed, clutching his shirt with all her strength as her tears stained his chest. Akamaru whined and bowed his head in respect.

The remaining Konoha 12 stood there, as though they had the intention of becoming a part of the scenery. As though they'd never move again because their world had just been flipped upside down.

"I have to leave in five hours." She said calmly.

They came with her to her apartment. They helped her pack, tried to cheer her up, even offered to pay for one last trip to Ichiraku's.

It wasn't enough. Hadn't she done enough! What more did those imbeciles on the council want from her! Why couldn't they be satisfied that she was herself and not a demon! Why couldn't she make her dream come true?

Four hours later, everyone was walking through the village towards the gate. Word had spread and the entire village was there to pay their respects.

She wasn't dead or being executed. But if felt as though they were walking to her funeral.

The council was there as well and watched as she paused before taking that last step off of Konoha soil. They watched her turn around with icy cold eyes, so unlike herself, and they froze in fear.

"Good bye and good luck, your going to need it." Without another good bye, she left. Many tears were shed that day as the sunshine of the village was forced away.

Kiba was the last to leave. Akamaru gently nudged his master away from the gate and on home where his mother and sister tried to console him for his loss. He knew he'd never feel complete again. Because the woman he had been planning to ask to be his mate was gone.

Maybe forever.

It was with a weary heart that he put the velvet box in a place of honor. On his nightstand, next to a picture of him, Naru, and Akamaru at the Kyubi festival. It had been just a few weeks ago to. It had been that night he decided he loved her. The next day he'd bought the ring and was waiting for Naru to return from her mission so he could pop the question.

Now, she would never know how deeply he felt for her. And it was because of the council.

Outside the village, a thirteen year old Naru walked slowly down the dirt paved road. Her long blond locks billowed in the breeze.

Her blue eyes were hidden by her bangs, without the headband to hold them back. She wore an orange jacket with a red spiral on the back, and red fur lining. It was her signature piece of clothing. That kill-me-neon orange.

She wore standard blue ninja pants and sandals. Her whisker marks were finer than they had been when she was a child, looking almost as though someone had penciled them on with their faintest brush.

"What do I do now?" She asked herself hopelessly. Now, she didn't even have Kyu to talk to. He had been absorbed into her after all. She was alone.

She stopped walking and ran through seals. The genjutsu covering her ears and tail vanished and her eyes grew slitted. Her nails grew longer, into claws. Her canines elongated.

This was Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze in all her glory. She was saddened though, to know she would never be Naru Inuzuka-Namikaze.

She'd never see Kiba again.

But some say that the end of one adventure, can be the start of another. Her eyes filled with new determination, she set her sights on the unexplored horizon.

Taking a deep breath of the free night air, she smiled. It was small, broken, but it was strong. No more tears. From then on out, she vowed, she would prevent them instead.

She'd make them see who she was. If she could not be future hogake, then she would take on a new dream.

Being the best didn't sound like a bad plan.

Taking her first step into her new life, Naru felt the old excitment returning. Sure, she was alone. But Naru knew she had a village full of people who cared about her.

And maybe even one man who loved her. And that was enough. Even if she wasn't allowed to see them anymore. It was enough to let her continue living.

With each step taking her further and further from the pain of her past, she made a new promise.

"I'm making a vow of pain, that I will keep moving forward!" She swore, bursting into a full on sprint.

"I'll help those like me! I'll travel and become strong, truly strong!" Great bouts of laughter shook her body but she kept running. Even after her lungs felt fit to implode she ran on. Even when she began to stumble, she ran on.

Only when she reached a large clearing did she stop. Spreading her arms out, she sighed in relief.

"I promise to come back stronger than ever! That is the promise of a life time!"

Trees passed in blurs, sights, smells, and sounds blending together into a jumble of senses. She used the hiraishin to go as far as she could.

Faster and faster, until she reached the ocean's edge. With a new burst of energy, she sent chakra to her feet and began the trek across the water. She was on a new adventure now. She would see them all again. But first she'd get stronger!

Strong enough to never fear another being. Strong enough to make her enemies tremble in fear if she so much as sneezed in their direction!

Days passed as she continued her mad run to a new place. Her legs felt like dead weights, but she had never before felt like this.

She felt so strange, and she couldn't identify this feeling. It was something she had never felt before. It was a wonderful feeling. Like she had done something right.

It took a while to figure it out. By then she had finally reached the other side and collapsed on the sand. The edges of her vision was beginning to darken.

She finally understood what had been told to her, so long ago. She finally understood what this felt like. She'd always wondered, and now she knew.

Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze felt _free._

THE END OF A GREAT TALE OF AWESOMENESS AND ALL THAT IT IS! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S OVER!

LC; Alright, this is the end of A Kunoichi's Tail!

Naruto; Finally! I'm free!

LC; Nonsense, now we get to work on the sequel!

Sasuke; You can't be serious.

Naruto; Oh no. What's it called.

LC; Naru Uzumaki, A Vixen's Yarn.

Sasuke; *Sigh* Be on the look out for it.

Naruto; Why aren't you satisfied yet!

LC; Because your to awesome to finish like this!


End file.
